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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:
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

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!

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?

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:
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

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 ^

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:
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

Iloveeverycat · 04/01/2025 17:11

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

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

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?

Theunamedcat · 04/01/2025 17:16

Check the bank statements they usually need a phone call to reactivate the claim it's not automatic my dad's was suspended while he was in hospital I had to call when he came out she was lovely and said she was glad he pulled through (we expected him to die it was in his notes because I rang them "late")

unsync · 04/01/2025 17:17

Attendance Allowance can still be paid if she is self funding. The payments will appear in her bank account with 'dwp aa' at the end of the reference.

Iloveeverycat · 04/01/2025 17:18

If she hasn't got much savings she can claim pension credit too.

Mischance · 04/01/2025 17:20

If your aunt is self-funding she is allowed to claim AA. I do not think that is the case though from your posts.

But if the LA is responsible for her care fees (with your aunt paying her agreed contribution to them) then she cannot.

Do not panic. Even if there has been an overpayment in error (either hers or the AA folk) then all that happens is that an agreed amount is paid back per week. Speak to the LA finance department about it before meeting with AA. They will be able to help clarify it all.

endsnewyearsday · 04/01/2025 17:20

They're idiots. My DF had his benefits miscalculated by them, so paid too little for his social housing. Then they took a big chunk of money out of his account, then asked to see bank statements but miscalculated it again based on that. It's taken months to sort out and been really stressful.

However, as others have said, they can't take what she doesn't have.

polpolpolpol · 04/01/2025 17:24

unsync · 04/01/2025 17:17

Attendance Allowance can still be paid if she is self funding. The payments will appear in her bank account with 'dwp aa' at the end of the reference.

She isn't self funding

Original poster
NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 17:27

unsync · 04/01/2025 17:17

Attendance Allowance can still be paid if she is self funding. The payments will appear in her bank account with 'dwp aa' at the end of the reference.

The £340 a week is all in one lump sum. It shows as DWP SP on her bank account

OP posts:
Original poster
NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 17:32

Hence why I thought it was state pension!!

OP posts:
Original poster
NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 17:34

Will the La have to pay back what she has over paid? She is paying them based on her actual income, hence why they take nearly all of it. If so that would pretty much pay back the DWP

OP posts:
polpolpolpol · 04/01/2025 17:38

SP is state pension, AA isn't included in this.

Nana4 · 04/01/2025 17:57

I wouldn’t worry too much but do some checking
I dealt with my late mother’s finances, same age, care home but self funding so she still received attendance allowance.
state pension was paid weekly, the AA was paid monthly, the two were never lumped together.
Check the bank statements for any receipts other than state pension.
It may be that the claim wasn’t closed down properly and is still active on DWP records but they are not actually paying anyone.

unsync · 04/01/2025 17:57

NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre · 04/01/2025 17:27

The £340 a week is all in one lump sum. It shows as DWP SP on her bank account

Show quote history

SP is State Pension. What does her annual statement show? They normally come out around now or dig out last tax year's statement. There are a number of reasons why she may have an elevated state pension. Try not to worry too much.

SnugNightsss · 04/01/2025 20:51

If it does turn out they’ve overpaid her, then offer them £1 a month. They just want to close the file with a resolution so are very likely to accept it.

Mischance · 04/01/2025 20:54

The LA finance department will be on top of this as they are the funders - ring them. They will have all her financial details and will know what benefits she is entitled to and is getting - they deal with this situation all the time.