80 year old has been claiming wrong benefits for 30 years

[CuriousLadyBird]

I'm sorry, it's a posting for traffic here and I'm at a loss.

I don't really know what happened when my grandma first claimed for DLA as I wasn't born but basically she had an accident at work, slipped a disc and has had incredibly painful back problems since. At the time she was award mobility only indefinitely but I believe this was incorrect as she has always needed help with her care needs however I appreciate we can't go back 30 years and question the decision.

I've been caring for my grandma since I was a child basically, I do more now as an adult but always thought she got the care rate of DLA as she always just said DLA.

She needs a lot of care with dressing, bathing, cooking, getting in and out of bed, using the toilet, pain management, shopping and sorting her meds out.

It's annoying because three years ago she had another accident where she passed out in the middle of the road and broke her shoulder and needed professional carers for a period of time but she then didn't want them coming round anymore so it reverted back to me but this has made her care needs even more so but I didn't even think to question her benefits as I thought they were in place.

Would I be able to do a change of circumstances and explain the situation for them to have a look at the claim again to see if we could get her the care rate? I appreciate they look at the whole claim again and she could lose it all although I don't know how they'd argue her mobility has improved in 30 years. She'd still be entitled to DLA as she was born before 1948 but I just don't know what the best things is to do.

Sorry again for posting in AIBU, just a bit stuck.

Shexwas assessed and given dla.
Nothing to say it was wrong
Whether she now entitled to more is another matter
Go see a cab advisor or contact age uk

You do not have to do her care
It is your choice
Speak to adult social care

There are four rates of DLA - care (lower and higher) and mobility (lower and higher).

You cannot get mobility without care so I'm really unclear what you mean about the care rate. Do you mean you think she should be eligible for higher rate and/or mobility? You can look on her award letter to see what she currently gets.

Would she be entitled to attendance allowance?

Oh sorry, I've just written a load of rubbish. You can get mobility without care and there are 3 rates of care, not two!

And I've been claiming it for 8 years (for my child)

I appreciate where you are coming from but it's very unusual for someone to have severe mobility problems which require high rate mobility to not have any care needs which she absolutely did. It's not usual for the DWP to assess people incorrectly though as you hear many stories of people being wrongly awarded.

However it was 30 years ago so there's no way of proving otherwise.

I'll speak to age UK for help in the morning, thank you.

I'm happy to provide her care, it's what family is for.

She's too old for DLA. It stops at pension age

It's attendance allowance.

Not if you were claiming before pension age

This is what I've found online.

I don’t understand why you think the claim is wrong if that’s what she was awarded?

If you want her benefits reassessed you can ask the DWP to assess her can’t you?

Definitely speak to age UK. You need to find out the impact of updating her claim- will she be moved to PIP or attendance allowance?
Do you claim carers if eligible?

She will be able to keep the mobility component of DLA after pension age because she received it before she retired. I think she might have to claim attendance allowance now for her other needs. You need to check it out with a disability rights group.

You just need to put in a change of circumstances form and detail her care needs. It wont get back dated so the sooner you call up for form the better.

She won’t get the mobility part taken away due to her age. I would recommend getting a welfare rights person to help you with the form and to check she is getting all the benefits she is entitled to and you are too.

if she hadn’t already been claiming DLA before pension age it would be Attendance Allowance.

Unlikely you will get retrospective claim
But by all means make a change of circs claim
But speak to age uk first

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/if-youre-an-adult-on-disability-living-allowance/

Have a look here. You need to report the changes to attendance allowance so they can consider care needs.

She can claim attendance allowance there are 2 rates, it is not means tested

She may be eligible to claim pension credit, if her state pension is below a certain level

You can claim carers allowance

All the info is on here www.gov.uk

To answer all PPs:

I think it was assessed incorrectly as she obviously had a lot of care needs. She was awarded the highest rate of mobility as she physically couldn't walk very far or move without extreme back pain (and now shoulder pain) so if you can't walk or move very well due to a disability surely it's common sense to know you'll need help with other tasks such as washing, dressing, meals, household chores etc - it obviously doesn't just affect you in one way which is why I don't think it was done correctly.

I don't want her to lose the whole award which is why I'm cautious about doing a COC. It says you can claim DLA if born before 1948 and was already claiming DLA so I'm wondering if that means she can stay on DLA as AA obviously doesn't have a mobility component. It's all very confusing which is why I asked here as I thought maybe someone had a similar situation or may know but as mentioned previously I might be better speaking to age UK or CAB.

Also ask for a care needs assessment from social services, a carers assessment for you and if she gets awarded AA consider if you can claim carers allowance.

Does she get pension credit too?

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/how-to-claim

This is what I'm a bit confused about, it's saying if she's receiving DLA and was born before 1948 then she should still receive DLA but I don't know if that works in a case of COC.

She is receiving pension credits. I'm having a look through all her paperwork now just to make sure I haven't missed anything else.

Forget about the past, contact them and put in a change of circumstance to say her care needs have increased due to age and due to the accident.

They can work out if they will continue it as part of DLA or switch her onto Attendance Allowance.

You meanwhile need to apply for Carer’s Allowance.

But don’t be bossed around by her, you may well need external carers to help you, she can’t just demand not to be cared for by anyone else.

As she's just receiving the mobility element I can't claim carers anyway but I've never tried to as I just thought I was helping my grandma. I guess we could have found out sooner if I did apply. Thats my fault.

Thank you I'll speak to them and let them decide what needs to be done. Thank you.

I was just mentioning the past as context I appreciate they aren't going to backdate it or anything.

She should also receive the winter fuel allowance which is given to all older people. The amounts given are on www.gov.uk too

I know she’s just receiving the mobility element so you contact them with a change of circumstance and apply for the care element too.

Why can’t you claim carer’s allowance - do you have a reasonable income?

@Mirabai you can't claim carers allowance when it's mobility only. You can only claim when they receive the care rate which I guess makes sense to be fair.

OISWYM I thought you meant in principle. Because you can’t claim carer’s allowance if you earn more than ~ £140 pw.

So step 1. Apply for care component and step 2. Apply for carer’s allowance.

I did kinda mean in principle which is why I haven't claimed it in the past and didn't realise she didn't get the care element all this time.

Sorry I should have been clearer.