Is It worth applying for attendance allowance?

[Icequeen01]

My DM had a fall in August and broke her hip. We think she fell due to her arthritic knee giving way. She was advised last year that she needs a knee replacement but the wait would be a couple of years so she decided she didn't want to go ahead with it! She's recovered amazingly well from her fall but now has to walk with a frame. She doesn't go out at all unless I take her so I take her shopping each week and to medical appointments. I managed to get her a Disabled Badge last year. She had a mobility scooter before her fall but can only use it when I am with her and has just used most of her savings to have a chairlift fitted in her house as she can't get up the stairs to her bathroom and bedroom otherwise is.

She also now has some memory and cognitive issues. No diagnosis as she gets upset if I even mention going to see her GP. I look after all her finances, make appointments, phone calls and do all her admin. I have to make up all her weekly tablet boxes and check that she's taken them each day. I now cook for her at least 4 times a week as since her fall I've noticed she doesn't cook properly for herself, just heats up soup, pies, quiches etc.

My DH thinks I should apply but I'm not convinced she would even qualify and the form is very off putting.

I know a lot of people on this board have experience so would be grateful for your advice as to whether you think it would be worth applying or I would be wasting my time.

you have to have had the needs for 6 months to be entitled so bear that in mind when answering when care needs started You’re not suggesting that the needs should be falsely backdated, I hope?

I wasn’t expecting our claim to be backdated and had a nice surprise when it was.

sorry about the italics - it was the cat, and I don’t know how she did it

I also would warn about overstating by using worse days only when filling in. That is why a diary is useful to get a accurate picture of day to day life.Looking at what someone is like over 50% of the time can be a more helpful way to view it as this would stand up to scrutiny. It is always worth applying and if you are not awarded it is always worth asking for a reconsideration and appealing.

@Icequeen01 definitely do apply. Get a power of attorney in place too if you haven’t already. Speak to her GP on her behalf. Get the ball rolling. You can also ask the Pharmacy to make up a weekly pill box. My Nan gets one, and it’s split into 4 sections for 7 days of the week, has really large letters and is a blister pack so she can’t take too much by opening too many doors at once x

Also if she does get the attendance allowance you could suggest that she uses a proportion of it for something like Wiltshire Farm foods. That’s what my Nan uses hers for because it was becoming too much for me dropping food over every day - and she didn’t like to keep it for more than 2 days.

Definitely apply. My mum has recently got this. She didn't know it was even a thing until the CAB helped her with some other things and they helped her apply. It's made such a difference to her life.

Remember that AA allowance is for the individuals needs regardless of wether they are being met. Have a look at Agespace.org they have useful info about completing the form.
Perhaps keep a diary for a week or so to help you identify her needs. I have completed forms for my parents and its easy to forget.

There are people you can pay to assist you with completing the form. I do have a contact but don’t know if I can share on here?

Absolutely do not pay OP. You are more than capable of doing this yourself. I will post some tips if I can find them, unfortunately they are handwritten.

Do NOT pay - it is wrong of people to charge for help with this. If you are really struggling with the forms then Age Uk, welfare rights, CAB etc can help x

Sounds like she would be eligible as long as she has had difficulties going back 6 months, so may/June.
It's not really a case of writing it like the worst day, .. lorrymum gives good advice.

She sounds like she has similar needs to my in-laws. I was very detailed when I applied and used age UK or similar for examples of how to fill in. We were successful for both. It's backdated to the date you requested the forms as long as you return it in a certain time frame. Good luck. It takes time and I did 2 of them.

check places like your local library - sometimes they will have people come in to help with things like this, i know where i live they helped my mum with AA application as well as blue badge appliation (this was precovid tho)

Absolutely worth it. DMum receives £80 odd per week and it pays for carers to come in for 30 minutes each morning to help her wash and dress (she lives with us but doesn't want me doing personal care if possible). It also means on the 2 days a week I'm in the office someone comes in at lunch time to serve her lunch, empty commode and ensure she's ok.

Agree with pps to complete form as if on her worst day and try and persuade her not to read it.

I can see you've had lots of great advice already. If you've not yet done so please either call and request the form or download it ASAP as the award will be backdated to your original request date if successful.

I've just been through this process with my parents. Requested form over the phone in October at the 6 month anniversary of my DF's stroke. Form took me circa 3hrs to complete in November and was total PITA due to the length a slightly repetitive nature. Whilst his needs could be far worse I wrote the worst case scenarios about his overnight care needs based on his diabetes but was also very truthful about the variability in the frequency of these needs. Levels of personal care and assistance needed in the day sound similar and I think you should feel confident of receiving the normal rate.

Everyone was delighted when circa 3 weeks later the higher rate attendance allowance was awarded and backdated to the request date. Proved to be a v appropriate/accurate award as DM spent the following week repeat monitoring bloodsugars throughout the night as these were elevated due to an infection.

On a side note, has your mother's care needs been assessed by your local adult social care team? If not this is worth looking into even if you remain largely self funding. At the very very least you'll get written external assessment of her needs that is helpful to include/have a copy of for things like this.

Wishing you the best of luck wrestling with the form!

Hi there. My mum is self-funding in a nursing home and the solicitor doing my dad's probate has suggested we apply for Attendance Allowance for her. Mum is completely paralysed after a stroke in early 2021 and has now developed vascular dementia. She is doubly incontinent and requires a hoist operated by two staff members to get out of bed. Once up, she is wheelchair bound and must be pushed from room to room. She cannot feed herself and can only eat pureed food. I am ploughing through the AA form but it seems to apply to people in their own home who are struggling or beginning to struggle with self care. Has anyone else filled in the form for parents in a similar to situation to ours? I just keep ticking all the boxes and repeating that she is paralysed, has contracture of some joints and cannot basically do anything for herself, even position herself in bed. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions. It's a grim situation and although we have made the best of it I'm finding it really hard and sad at the moment.

WHiskyFoxtrotCharlie

i have completed many AA forms, including a few after I retired. If your mother is in a nursing home , this is the ultimate in needing care. It should be very straightforward completing the form, if repetitive. Your mother probably needs help with absolutely everything so don’t delay. For the night time care, which is worth about £25 p.w. extra, you may need to ask the care home manager exactly what they need to do for her during the night. This could be checking on her, giving comfort or medication, toilet/ incontinence needs such as changing pads, bedding. I repeat don’t delay.

Don't worry about being repetitive @whiskeyfoxtrotcharlie just cut and paste.

It is a long form. Good luck.

I filled in as much as I could then asked the manager of mums care home to help with the rest.
She was happy to help x

Thank you @Smudgeis13 , @MrsMorton and @Borntobeamum . I will complete the form without further delay. As you say @Smudgeis13, my mother does need help with absolutely everything and cannot be left alone unless she has been correctly positioned in bed with the guard rails up.

I obtained details of her medication from the nurse in charge of mum's floor yesterday and when I visit today will ask exactly what they do at night – I know Mum is checked on but have no idea how many times or whether she has to be changed.

One last question: do you think it matters if the AA form is partly printed and partly hand-written? When I went back to it yesterday Acrobat was a bit glitchy and wouldn't let me add more info in some of the boxes so I'll have to write the info about nighttimes etc

Many thanks again, I really appreciate the advice and moral support.

People often complete the form in more than one sitting. So whatever differences, different colour ink, different handwriting, it doesn’t matter. They just need the information.

Definitely do it. It's fairly straightforward and I got it in place for both my parents.

Just fill out as if it’s the worst day ever for her.
Agree with this - obviously make it truthful but don't hold back on the difficulties.

@whiskeyfoxtrotcharlie Remember “a need that is met is still a need”. So, for example, she has meals provided. So what is the basic need? She doesn’t have the physical ability to prepare food, and she needs assistance to eat it. Has she the cognitive skills and enough grasp of time to know that she should be having lunch? The fact that she doesn’t now prepare meals is irrelevant, she still has the basic need for someone to do it for her. And so on for everything she doesn’t need to worry about because the home does it for her.

Treat each section as if it were being read by a different person. You’re right to keep repeating she’s paralysed, make sure that anything that is relevant to more than one section is repeated in each section.

Don’t be put off if you get turned down as a lot of first refusals are over turned on appeal. Citizens Advice will help with this as well.

Yes definitely, biggest price of advice, don’t fill the form in yourself. Go and get support with this from somewhere like Citizens Advice, they have vast experience in doing this and will know how draw out the information required for the application. Good luck