What can my dear neighbour claim for help?

[Barny9339]

My dear neighbour has been living off some life insurance money from her dear husband who died a couple of years ago, which is not much , has confided in me her worried that the money will run out before her retirement (in around 3 years).

At the moment she has not been claiming UC or PIP but just using this money and hoping it will last until retirement but it likely will not (not talking huge sums of money here, just paying bills and food).

She spent her adult life raising children then did have a job around 10 years ago but stopped working after having a blood clot in her leg, which has left her with a sore leg the majority of the time, she is unable to walk long distance or for more than say 15 minutes and even when walking that 15 minutes will need several rests. She also has arthritis in her hands and anxiety since her DH passed.

What can my neighbour do please ? Is it only PIP she can apply for ? As noted she just needs enough money to tide her over to retirement. We are very much hoping she can then get pension credit, due to likely not having enough NI contributions. (Again if anyone is knowledgeable in this area please provide reassurance)

Please note we have limited knowledge on what benefits are available, my neighbour has not claimed any benefits as her husband worked and provided for them both whilst she raised the children.

She needs to go online and fill in a calculator that will advise what, is anything, she is eligible for and then she can go ahead with applying if she wishes. If she doesn’t have online access, perhaps you can help her with that.

Pip isn’t means tested so she can apply for that asap…..she should use the on
Line calculator for any other

The website ‘entitled to’ is very good. Also check if your local council has a money advice team to similar that can help. Our council has drop in sessions all around the city and a couple of teams that will visit those with mobility issues and go through everything they may be entitled to and help them apply

Has she got more than £16k as of today.

Does she have any debt she can pay off like credit cards or a car loan.

As above, Entitledto is good so is Turn2Us.

Thanks for the quick responses! I will check out the website entitled to.

To answer a few initial questions:
Yes more than 16k but not much more
No debts or car loans

If she's got more than 16k she wont get universal credit.
She's ok to claim PIP though.

@patsy999 noted, even the PIP rate each week would be a great help in making the money stretch that bit further to retirement

If she wants to claim PIP do so before pension age as there is a mobility component with PIP but not attendance allowance.

Depending on savings less than 16 she may be entitled to Universal Credit. If she is I'll and unable to worn she may get an extra for LCWRA.
Once pension age check her eligibility for pension credit. Savings over 10k will result in deductions for every £500 but they are not huge.
Oh and check with your local council about council tax reduction.

@ThatbloodyRoblox sorry what is Lcwra?

If she wants to Claim PIP you have to be under retirement age for first claim ( 66).
She might get ESA for her disability but think she has too much savings

She can claim PiP but she isn't going to get it based on 'sore leg, can't walk for more than 15 minutes' and some arthritic hands. Even anxiety needs to be at an extreme before they would deem it worthy of PIP criteria points. Has she any evidence of this? Psychiatrist reports etc? Medication or therapy?

Thanks @nicknot im not 100% but I know she is on various painkillers and blood thinners she must take morning and night together with stronger painkillers to take as and when needed. The blood thinners she has been on since the blood clot and heart attack also a few years ago.

I may have minimised the 'sore leg' in my OP, when I say sore leg ie it swells up and is incredibly painful for her for days unable to walk and get around her house.

ESA is now limited to New Style, ie contribution based, so unless she's a recent work history she probably won't get it.

PIP is based on activities related to Daily Living or Mobility. The more problems you have with Daily Living activities like prepping/eating food, washing, dressing, bathing and using the loo etc than the more points you score.

Mobility is about how far you can walk or needing help planning following routes.

There's a quick test here.

LCfWRA is about whether you can work or do work related activity and may get extra money in UC.

That's very different to 'she can't walk more than 15 mins'

@nicknot
Apologies, she can manage a 15 min walk to the shop but then will need to rest for the rest of the day for example.

And to add that's with many stops along the way and very slow walk.

I'm puzzled as to what job she could even do with her limited mobility

@Barny9339 its limited capability for work and work related activity. Worth about £430 a month?? Not entirely sure of the actual figures. It means you can get universal credit but they can't make you look for work

The self test you have linked to is very useful for us too @Bromptotoo. Thank you for that

Well PIP isn't an out of work benefit to the work aspect isn't really relevant. She would score zero on the mobility section as you describe her, even with the added detail. For the care criteria there are several questions but needing medication isn't overly relevant as it's about how the condition/s affect people. Taking meds for arthritic hands means nothing, but if she uses specialised cutlery for instance she may score 2 points in that section. It's very difficult to claim without a shit ton of evidence, one claim I read said 'because you can get in a car we have decided you do not need help with taking nutrition' - batshit but absolutely common unfortunately

Arthritic hands may, as @nicknot says, imply a need for adapted cutlery. If they cannot open tins or bottles without an aid or appliance that's another 2 points. Needing an aid or appliance to manage medication is a single point. Needing assistance to get into or out of either of an unadapted bath or shower is another 3. If she needs things like sock pullers when dressing and/or adaptations to use a loo (rails? raised seat?) then you're over eight and well on the way to twelve points.

I find mobility more difficult in cases like this. How far can she walk before discomfort is such she has to stop? How long does she have to stop for?

The citizens advice could help with finding out what she's entitled to?

You have to know the systems to know what to apply for.

For example she may be eligible for a blue badge which could help her on bad days to get her shopping to her car if she drives.

This varies from council to council unless you have automatic entitlement through your PIP (or similar) award. I have a motability car but can't get a BB for it as my council had very strict guidelines when it comes to walking ability. I managed the 20 meters and the fact I was sore, struggled to make it and could not talk because I was so short of breath after it, they said no.

It's worth her checking her national insurance record. Until April next year, it's possible to make up gaps right back to 2006, after that she'll only be able to top up the last six years. She needs 35 years to be eligible for the full state pension.

Whether it's worth paying for any gaps is another question. On the one hand there's only about £3/week difference between state pension and pension credit. On the other hand, it could be useful to reduce her savings now if she'll need to claim UC and it might give her peace of mind.

If she's got used to living very frugally then there's a possibility her savings might creep up again once she's on pension credit, especially if she also successfully claims a disability benefit. Pension Credit is means tested so this might affect her eligibility. On the other hand, if she's been eking out money for years there are probably lots of things she really needs and has been putting off buying, and that might be a better use for the money than NI credits.

Does she have a spare room? She could get a lodger in.

Basically, once her savings dip below £16k she can claim Universal Credit. She can complete the additional work capability questionnaire, which will decide if she has to look for work or not, and if she can claim extra for her disability.

So she needn't panic.

Pip is a different kettle of fish. She might qualify. Check out the Citizens Advice website on pip for more info.