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Elderly parents
Original poster

Shit is my aunt getting too much money

61 replies

NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 16:16

I have POA for my 87 yo aunt. She has been in a care home for 3 years. Prior to this she got attendance and I got carers allowance. I rang and told them she was in a care home She gets £340 a week which I assumed was her state pension plus her widows pension as her DH died 30 years ago after working full time. She pays £1291 every 4 weeks to the care home. So is left with £80 a month for personal spends. The rest is topped up by the council. When I stopped claiming carers and attendance allowance it had been overpaid so we had to pay back £600.

Today I have had a call from someone who said she was from the DWP saying she needed to come and visit my aunt and I to check she was still allowed it as it had been claimed in COVID. She said that the attendance allowance claim was still active??

Now I'm panicking that she has been overpaid for 3 years. She has no money to pay them back. I use that £80 to take her out and but her clothes etc each month. None of the benefits calculations work when someone is in a care home.

Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

OP posts:
polpolpolpol · 04/01/2025 17:12

I'm surprised you got a phone call tbh, usually they send letters. Are you sure that was legit?

polpolpolpol · 04/01/2025 17:11

Iloveeverycat · 04/01/2025 17:11

You are allowed to claim attendance allowance when in a care home.

It depends which country you live in

Iloveeverycat · 04/01/2025 17:11

You are allowed to claim attendance allowance when in a care home.

purplelagoon · 04/01/2025 17:03

Ted27 · 04/01/2025 16:45

@NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre

I can understand it's worrying, take a deep breath.
She is 87, in a care home, presumably no assets. What are they really going to do.
If there is an overpayment, offer a nominal amount a month

This.

OP have a look at her bank statement. There should be a reference number / code next to the payments that come in. I think that attendance allowance has "AA" next to it. What can you see?

Does she have any savings at all now?

As you said, she only keeps £80 a month for expenses, which is exactly what she is allowed to do. All of her other income goes on the fees.

You just have record of you cancelling the AA as you then cleared the overpayment.

Don't stress. Just wait for the DWP to come and do what they need to do. You've done nothing wrong Flowers

Original poster
NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 16:53

Thanks all. I feel such a failure. I genuinely told the DWP she was in a care home and assumed that they had sorted it as I had paid back all the money they said had been overpaid and the council are taking all the rest in care home fees.

Will I be able to claim the care home fees she has over paid back??

OP posts:
Miepmiep · 04/01/2025 16:48

Ted27 · 04/01/2025 16:45

@NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre

I can understand it's worrying, take a deep breath.
She is 87, in a care home, presumably no assets. What are they really going to do.
If there is an overpayment, offer a nominal amount a month

This ^

Ted27 · 04/01/2025 16:45

@NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre

I can understand it's worrying, take a deep breath.
She is 87, in a care home, presumably no assets. What are they really going to do.
If there is an overpayment, offer a nominal amount a month

Original poster
NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 16:40

I have a letter from the DWP asking me to pay back the overpaid AA which I did, it was £627 at the time. They seem to have continued paying it after I paid it back though. I didn't realise as it pretty much all goes on care home fees.

If she has been being paid it, the council have taken it all to cover the care home fees. She doesn't have £16k to pay them back.

I a bit of a tail spin now.

OP posts:
purplelagoon · 04/01/2025 16:33

Do you have audit trail from when you cancelled the attendance allowance and then had to pay back the over payment?

Zapx · 04/01/2025 16:28

It’s my understanding that if the local authority are covering the cost of the care home, you cannot claim attendance allowance, but you can if you yourself are covering the cost of the care home. I’m no expert though!

Ted27 · 04/01/2025 16:25

@NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre

Obviously I can't say whether she has been overpaid but I wanted to say don't panic if she has.
I have a disputed overpayment with tax credits. After I disputed it they halved the overpayment they said was due. I got fed up arguing so am paying them back at the rate of £50 a month. I could have paid back less but I do want it off my back at some point.
Your aunt can't give what she doesn't have. If there is am overpayment offer them £10 a month
Hope it gets sorted without too much hassle

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