Benefit cap? Benefit fraud?

Except the only calculations that count as OPs income are UC and Carers.

which equates to less than minimum wage.

DLA isn’t means tested and CB is paid to people if they are earning £46k

Its really not the income people think it is.

You're struggling to understand something that was laid out very very easily. You're giving me answers to things that I haven't even said. I assuming that you have comprehension issues at play because you are a bit garbled, I'll be honest.

You also bring up the fact that rent will be taken out of the OPs 'salary'. You do realise that the professionals I mentioned don't live rent/mortgage free yes? Their rent/mortgage will also be coming out of their salary. So what is your point with that?

@coco99 just looking at what you get .. you left off the disability child element just making sure you also get it

You would need to earn £46k to take home that amount. There is no tax on benefits so you have to gross it up to achieve the same take home figure.

Ignore the DLA. The DLA is for the child, and it's not an out-of-work benefit. She could earn £5k a week as a TV presenter and her little boy would still be entitled to it.

When you look at the Universal Credit the OP is getting, it works out less than a full-time (37.5 hours) minimum wage job.

Then think about how much it would cost for that little child to be placed in residential care with 1-1 staffing ratio to meet his needs. There are 24 hours in a day and he needs care for all of them. So that is a minimum of 24 × £12.21. £293.04 a day. June has 30 days, so that's £8,791.20 in direct staffing costs per month, without accounting for employer's NI contributions, never mind the cost of staff in HR, payroll and management salaries.

Then account for the cost of heating, lighting, building maintenance costs. And at the end of the day, residential homes are profit-making business, so how much do they charge the tax payer on top of those costs?

Benefits to OP are a sodding bargain for the country. She's being paid a pittance compared to what residential care costs.

I work in care. I'm not paid as much as I should be, but I'm on more than minimum wage and more than OP, and I'm doing fewer hours than she is.

Your maths is incorrect.

£1778x12=£21,336.00
£748x13=£9,724.00
£83x52=£4,316.00
£26x52=£1,352.00

Thats £36k not £46.

that’s a big difference per month of income.

And for someone caring for a Severely disabled child it’s not a huge amount. Around here a 2 bed privately rented property is £1200-1400 a month.

Food is now about £400 a month.

That’s the UC gone before you've got to pay bills and get all the things required for a disabled child.

Caring for a disabled child 24/7 is a relentless task and you may live your child but your role becomes carer for life. There’s no working your way up the career ladder to increase your finances.

The disabled child then becomes a disabled adult.

You lose carers and get the carer element of UC which is £193 a month.

You lose child benefit at £100 a month.

The disability award goes to the adult and not to you (although you can be appointee).

Suddenly you find yourself without a career and losing income - yet the responsibility remains the same. Oh hang on - no it doesn’t. The child is now an adult so instead of daily access to education they are with you all the time.

Adult services are shutting faster than other services around here. Anything that’s not a legal requirement to provide is going.

OP - don’t worry there is no cap. And anyone with an ounce of compassion wouldn’t begrudge you what you receive or the whole lifetime of caring.

The huge costs associated with physical therapy not provided to children free by the NHS, for a start. They can only offer limited sessions in both type and frequency. Regular sessions paid for privately that could hugely assist their development and quality of life both long and short term without waiting lists of years and years. Thats just one example.

Bloody hell, sometimes posts take my breath away. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to be a carer 24 hours nor can I imagine being jealous of the amount of benefit someone gets for doing this.

Why? It’s DLA- for a child. It’s not PIP- where amputees are more than likely able to work than a child or mother in receipt of dla

No. You’re not subject to the cap as you care for a child in receipt of DLA

The highest rates of DLA amount to about £800 / month now ,so your friend wssent getting £800 16 years ago
DLA is non means tested and is supposed to be used to benefit the child, but it's up to parents whst to spend the money on.

I can. Benefits are a pittance and disabled children are not adequately financially supported, they clearly are not. OP deserves every penny but should be getting more as the system is in no way generous and is not proper support.

How would this other person know what you should or shouldn't have?

Maybe don't discuss your finances with people. I don't think many would talk about their wages in detail so why do so about benefits?

If you want to you can contact the DWP and say you want to check you're not on the wrong money? But I don't see why you should need to.
Other than to avoid someone saying something judgemental.

I’m not saying there aren’t costs associated, I know full well there are, but I’m doubtful they’re to the tune of £3k per month. I have lived disabled and with amputated limbs for 37 years, have you?

If only those things were always all provided. And if her children are 18 & 19 then they were probably preschoolers before 14 years of austerity meant that less and less stuff was provided.

" I understand of child needs special equipment, hoists maybe etc but surely that is all provided and the DLA is on top……"

It isn't all provided.

Yes because of having additional costs associated with disability

Thanks for posting about housing costs,I couldn't be bothered as I've done it before on these types of threads.

It does, to have a take home pay of £3,000 a month you would need to be on a gross annual salary of around £45/46,000. But you miss my point, im just commenting that you cannot say that benefits are a pittance and that disabled children are not financially supported, they clearly are. The OP deserves every penny if her child is that disabled, but you can’t deny the benefit system is relatively generous and proper support is available.

General question. Not having a go.
So OPs child isn’t yet school age what is the DLA for? How is it any different to parents caring for pre school children without disabilities? I understand of child needs special equipment, hoists maybe etc but surely that is all provided and the DLA is on top……

My friend had £800 DLA for both her children when they were pre-schoolers (now 18 & 19) because they were hard of hearing. Family were offered sign language lessons for parents and children aswell as DLA. Friend didn’t take them. Also got a computer at home for DC which was given (she didn’t have to pay for it with DLA). DC were preschoolers so don’t know why they needed a computer? The DLA was, as she described it, free cash. Now I would never want my DC to have hearing problems in exchange for money or things but friend didn’t need it. She used to buy expensive clothes, had a new car and went on holidays. I’d have put money like that in the bank for my DC.

Both her DC went to mainstream school and then eldest went to a private school for the deaf, all paid for. She has implants so can hear and the 18yr old has hearing aids and can also hear.

@OldMcDonaldHadABigMac struggling to understand the relevance of your posts about wages. Everyone else's seem straightforward enough, make of that what you will.

Back to the thread, an aspect that seems to be being forgotten also is that a large part of the OPs UC will be the housing element. That money isn't going in her pocket, it'll be going on rent, for a landlord to profit from. UC rates look high due to inflated housing costs, however it's not the benefit claimants who are profiting from that.

These threads never go well.
Op you've gotten your answer and hopefully gives you peace of mind.

Don’t worry op. DLA doesn’t ‘count’ in these circs.

So if the costs associated with raising a disabled child safely are more than NMW (which they absolutely will be in the case of OP’s child), that’s just tough shit for the child and parents in question? They shouldn’t get “any more than NMW”? No issues for you there morally when it comes to the welfare of the children?

What happens if that means parents simply cannot cope and the children need to go into care? Do you know how much that would cost taxpayers, if the money is your major concern?