Attendance Allowance questions

[Roaminginthegloaming]

I’ve been reading a thread on the Money Matters board about an elderly lady who has successfully claimed Attendace Allowance as she’s no longer able to use public transport.

I live almost four hours away from my 85 years old mum and she’s relying more and more on my brother to do jobs for her eg. Gardening, DIY. He works full time but pops in when he can , sometimes does light shopping and takes a Sunday lunch down for her if she hasn’t gone out with his family for a meal.

I’ve paid for a stairlift for her house and also the bath to be ripped out and replaced by a shower. She fell in her (sloped) garden and broke a wrist so I had the garden landscaped so she has a level patio.

She was mugged when withdrawing cash at an ATM earlier this year and it has ruined her confidence. She can’t do online banking - I bought her a smartphone and she couldn’t cope with it and had to revert to her old Nokia basic mobile. She has no interest in getting internet access. Never learned to drive.

She lives really frugally which is frustrating…..there is central heating but she won’t use it and has her gas fire on and keeps the gas oven door on or a space heater on in the kitchen diner - she just refuses to accept that it can be dangerous and can cost more to heat the house in this way! (She still prefers to use her pay as you go utility meters too, even though we’ve told her she’s almost certainly on the highest rate).

However, her mobility is declining (her knees are bad, she had them both replaced about 15 years ago) and she is getting quite frail. Her local shops are a 8-10 minute walk at normal pace, but she takes her shopping trolley and leans heavily on it. She says she has to stop and sit on a garden wall for a rest. She was devastated when her bank closed and a few months ago stopped using the bus and calls a taxi to go into town to her bank and then a taxi home. This costs at least 11 pounds each way. When I visit her and if we go for lunch or a coffee at a garden centre she leans very heavily on my arm….won’t use a walking stick or a frame!

She says she can’t get up the step onto the bus and the drivers move away too quickly or stop abruptly at the bus stops and she doesn’t feel safe and fears that she will go flying; I think what with breaking her wrist and being mugged she just feels safer in a taxi.

Most of her meals seem to be ‘ready meals’ or simple things and I guess she will eventually need ‘Meals on Wheels’ (do they even exist these days?).

Sorry for the long post……but bearing in mind that the taxi fares are so expensive, is she likely to be able to claim Attendance Allowance? Thoughts please?

Yes absolutely

Occupational Therapy team at local council will help with equipment to stay at home; grab rails, bathing equipment, stair lift, etc.

The Attendance Allowance form is pretty hard work. Get some help with filling it in (Citizens Advice or Age UK) because you need to pitch it right. You need to ring and request a form. By the time you receive it you will only have two or three weeks to complete it so be warned!

If you haven't done so already....

Get third party access to her bank accounts if she will agree
Get Lasting Power of Attorney sorted
Get her Will sorted

Sounds like she might benefit from a PA to help her for a few hours a week.

A lot of areas have volunteer transport which might be easier than bus and cheaper than a taxi so look into that.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/attendance-allowance-claim-form

Yes, she should get it. Print the above form off and go through every single section.

You need to tick boxes and also enter things like aids that she needs to do things. The more we completed the form, the more we remembered things, like the toilet support, the extra stair rails, walking stick, mobile walker etc.

My mum has had 2 knee replacements, and is deaf, and she gets AA. She can now pay a cleaner if she wants to, or somebody do do a bit of gardening, or pay fuel costs for somebody to take her somewhere.

Also...

Request a physio referral via her GP to assess her mobility. Sounds like she would benefit from a four wheeled walker. Can put the brakes on and sit on the seat if she needs a rest.

Review all of her banking now so you know what she has and where. Simplify everything This is very important if she develops dementia because it is bloody hard dealing with some banks over the phone and online with an LPOA. Sometimes you have to speak to someone face to face. Nationwide still has lots of branches and have a vague understanding that not everyone can do banking online or over the phone due to age or disability.

When filling in the form make sure that you emphasise that the adaptations do not make everything easy. My MIL has a shoe horn to help her with her compression socks but she still struggles to get them on. Put on all the difficulties and all the help needed.

I sense you’re concerned about the taxis. I think the taxis sound great. They let her get into town safely and comfortably, and £11 each way sounds pretty reasonable. Much better that than all the similarly frail people who refuse to stop driving.

Other than that, just remember that she’s an adult who has to make her own choices. Some of her choices don’t sound ideal. But ultimately they’re hers to make, and the resulting problems aren’t yours to solve.

I can't see a reason why she wouldn't qualify for it at a minimum the lower rate.

We had an elder care consultant complete the forms for both my Mum and Dad and she had a 100% successful rate even taking my Dad from the lower rate the higher rate.

She explained that the higher rate tends to lean more towards people who require help after the dark or when you would lock up the house for the evening. That is just a simple way to look at it.

The tipping point for my Dad was that he had very specific tablets and eye drops that had to be taken at night and becuase he had Dementia I need to give him and do for him and that was enough to qualify him for the higher rate.

@wonderingwhatlifemeans gave you really good advice. Put everything little thing in there in terms of adaptations. The fact that your Mum needs a stair lift to help her get to bed, may help her qualify for higher rate.

Even if you have to ring her up to help remember to take tablets, you talked about needing to give her lifts every little thing you have had to do to make the adaptations are important to list in the form.

I echo what everyone has said, if you have not already done so, get the LPAs in place. It can not be stressed enough how difficult it is if you don't have them.

Good luck with everything.

We applied twice. The first time it was refused because her need for care wasn't emphasised. The second time we really put everything down. The fact she has a bed guard but still struggles to get to the bathroom on time. We put on the form that she uses incontinence products.

The daily phone calls to check she has eaten and taken meds were put on the form. We do face time so mentioned that we do that to see her and not just hear her. She doesn't have daily carer visits yet but she does have contact with us daily, her cleaner twice a week and other visits from friends. We put that all on the form under care needs.

We did get occupational therapists involved and they recommended a stair lift, wet room and higher toilets. Put on everything that is in place or has been recommended. The second time we applied she got it at the higher level. She has just got it through and it will be backdated to when we put it in.

DH qualified In a similar position. On the form answer for her worst day. DM is applying, again in a similar position, but encouraged by this government removing her winter fuel allowance. AA is not means tested. Nor is Carers Allowance, which I now qualify for.

I completely agree with this , i claimed for an elderly relative in the past and a social worker told me to fill in the form as the person is on their worst day.
I have recently claimed for my mother and i am currently waiting for a reply.
Be aware that the form is a 'one size fits all' and some of the questions may not seem relevant to the issues your mother has so i feel that you almost have to 'exaggerate' some of the problems to get a better chance of being awarded aa.

Welfare and benefits department at the local Council sent someone out to my Mum's house to fill the forms in for her. I'd looked at the forms and wasn't sure she'd qualify. They filled them in and she got the highest rate!
Just be careful if she's the type to underplay her abilities though. You or your brother may need to make sure she answers truthfully about her difficulties.

Thanks to all for your very helpful and informative replies.

@BetterCare - may I please ask you how to go about finding an “Elder Care Consultant’? Is it through the NHS, local council or privately?

It definitely sounds as if my mum is likely to qualify for AA. I thought it was purely for carers going into an elderly/disabled persons home every day.

However she’s a very proud woman and I can imagine her scoffing at the idea of claiming Attendance Allowance!

I agree it’s probably time to have the talk about a Lasting Power of Attorney….I don’t think she’s going to like it though (gulp).

I do know that she has made a Will (it wasn’t through a solicitor but through a Will writing service) and my brother and another sister who lives some distance away are the executors.

OP, I did LPOA for both parents, for financial and health, online. It was really easy and costs a lot less than getting a solicitor to do it for you. The cost can be reduced if she is on a low income.

You need to explain to her that it only kicks in at a point where she can't make her own decisions, and that if she doesn't have it , then it will make life very difficult for you, and strangers could be making decisions for her.

My mum should have claimed AA years ago and didn't. But it could make such a difference to her life, and she has never claimed anything else.

I agree with put everything as it would be on the worst day, and also look at every room to see what adaptations there are, as you do forget things when form filling

You have to complete it based on her worst day and really think about everything she has or would need support with.

You really must get Lower of Attorney otherwise it will be a nighmare if she loses capacity. What happens with older people is that they minimise what they cannot do or just leaves things if they are too complex (for them). You might not even find out something hasnt been done or just left.

In my experiece of both parents and in laws. They lose judgement and what they want is what they want and when they want it. The fact they might not have told you about it is irrelevant or that it doesnt fit in with your plans isnt important to them. It caused huge issues for me with Mum. They have the ability to fib about things to get their own way. I know I sound like a right cow but you need to protect yourself here.

If you contact the local council where mum lives they probably have a team that can help her apply. Meals on wheels are a thing in some areas but it does depend where she lives.

@MichaelandKirk

• I don’t really understand what you mean? Could you please elaborate or give me some examples? I must admit that my mum is becoming more forgetful.

Hi @Roaminginthegloaming - can I DM you?

Getting worried about small little things and bringing it up again and again

Favourite saying ' its not urgent but'.... and then mentioning it every time you see them.

Agreeing to a medical appointment and then looking expectingly at you to take them regardless of not checking with you first.

Wanting to do things the old fashioned way i.e give you cheques, dont want to use a direct debit making a payment of a bill much more complex than it should be.

Telling everyone that if they want answers to speak to you. My number was given out to half the county! I work full time so these calls were coming in without any notice.

Panciking about getting Covid jabs/flu jabs etc and wanting you to take them.

Wanting her toe nails cut professionally and wanting you to find someone, take them there and then take them back.

I would definitely get a copy of the will. You need to make sure that its probably excuted. Mum's wasnt..... it was OK because I got a solicitor to do it properly. Its too late after they have passed of course!

She honestly needs to get a stick or frame. Mum was tiny but my late Father leant on me without a stick and we both went tumbling down. It was OK - that time but imagine if she fell on you and you put your arm out to save yourself and you break your arm or wrist. She then lands on top of you

@JamieFrasersSassenach - yes please do send a DM 🙏

and many thanks @MichaelandKirk 🙏 (yes I do recognize some of the traits you listed)

Please just look after yourself OP

@Roaminginthegloaming ring your local Age Uk or citizens advice they’ll help with the form

I have sent you a pm