Attendance Allowance

[ByQuaintAzureWasp]

I think attendance allowance should be means tested. When im an OAP I will have income of £50k plus (net) and I dont think I should be a burden on the taxpayer. What do you think?

You don’t have to claim it

The question is, should folk be allowed to if they have a very good income?

On the current Gvt form they will means test it at basic pension rate much would be disastrous for many. So keep quiet and just don’t claim it (should you ever be in a position to need to)

It's a question which has set me wondering.
When was AA introduced?
Why?
Why do some MPs have the opinion that some benefits should be universal and not means-tested?
How would you means test it? Through the knowledge of income known by HMRC or another way?
Some people earn way more than others all their lives and spend their money on loads more treats than others and then they get the goodies because they're skint. Others save for a rainy day, as they were taught, and don't qualify for anything because they have savings too high. This would be another example of that annoying situation, wouldn't it?

Nailed it in one.

You do realise that attendance allowance is paid to people over state pension age who suffer from an illness that requires care. My husband has a terminal illness, he is over pensionable age. I am not pensionable age for 2 years but have had to give up my job to care for him full time. We have never claimed any benefits but have been advised by medical professionals to claim AA to help with the care my husbands receives. If I didn’t care for my husband at home he would require a hospital bed. Which due to his lung illness would be paid for by the state. What a ludicrous statement to say it should be means tested. Where would you draw the line? £50,000 per annum is a drop in the ocean for full time care! Absolutely fed up of people with no idea commenting on things they know nothing about. Also if you are so bothered just don’t claim it!

FFS. It can't just be claimed because you are a pensioner. You need to have a serious medical condition or a terminal illness.

If you feel that strongly about not being a burden on the taxpayer when you retire, don't claim your State Pension. A £50K income will not be sufficient if you need longterm ongoing care, so you will most likely become a burden as you so delightfully put it. Better hope you don't have MS, Parkinsons, COPD, Dementia or any of the myriad, chronic illnesses as you age.

Should people be allowed to use the NHS if they have a very good income?

Attendance Allowance is essentially PIP for pensioners. It's not easy to get and absolutely should not be means tested, just like PIP isn't means tested.

I think you should keep quiet about things you obviously know nothing about.
maybe people with “good incomes” shouldn’t get Alzheimer’s?? Shouldn’t get cancer??

aa is incredibly difficult to claim, and you need to be needing support and help daily.

Agree that it's essentially PIP for pensioners

I don't think either should be means tested. But if you're going to do one. logically you would do both.

I didn't say it should be means tested. I posed the question. In reality if it was means tested then perhaps more benefit could be paid to people such as yourself who give up their jobs to look after terminally ill loved ones, who get a pittance ... as did my sister with my mother.

OP. Have you even looked at the claim form? It is extremely lengthy, quite complicated and requires documentary evidence for every single thing. GP letters, hospital letters, copies of prescriptions. Home care has to be paid for, based on a social services financial assessment. The small attendance allowance is a drop in the bucket to go towards a bit of help with shopping, or a bath attendant or a cleaner.
The care deemed sufficient by the state is the absolute minimum and is means tested.

Your OP literally started with the words 'I think attendance allowance should be means tested', so it's not surprising that people are responding to that.

I don't feel strongly about it, i was posing the question for people's thoughts. I do think it's a pittance for people who have to give up their job to provide care for loved ones. I do unfortunately have experience of it via cancer and parkinsons/super nuclear palsy FYI.

Apologies, yes I do personally think it should be means tested but I'm happy to be convinced otherwise by people's views - im mot 'dead set" as it were.

People who give up work to care for relatives should get more for sure.

Attendance allowance is claimed by the person needing care, carer's allowance is claimed by the person who has to give up their job to care for their relative. Carer's allowance is a disgrace. I have a friend who lost his job because of caring for his mum who has dementia. She has carers morning and evening but can't be left alone. The house is in her name, he is under 60, so when if/she has to go into a home he will be both jobless and homeless. He is really struggling financially. I worry he will die of a heart attack before she does. Can't do anything about house - deprivation of assetts.
There are many people in the same situation.

This.
Saves me typing it all. MIL was refused it initially despite the fact she can’t get out of bed without help let alone live a safe independent life.

I do think it's a pittance for people who have to give up their job to provide care for loved ones.

If you're going to whnge about a benefit, I suggest you start by knowing which benefit you're whinging about.

Attendance allowance is not for people who give up their job to provide care. Chances are, they won't see a penny of the AA.

Potentially people from needing a full social services assessment for longer, makes unpaid carers feel less dumped on and taken for granted and allows flexibility for the various elements of paid care needed in the early-mid stages of eg dementia (which can also fluctuate)

It would be a false economy to change it imho, same as messing about with day centres and the like

This is why many, many poorly old people don't claim it. It is made as difficult as possible. For a start, if you can't manage to do it online, you need a printer or a dc with a printer (and a free weekend). If you happen to be blind you are stuck.

This. You don't seem very well informed OP.

If a person gives up work to be a full time carer, then they would claim Carers Allowance (whether the person they were caring for received PIP or Attendance Allowance, or both).

But of course you can't claim Carers Allowance if you are in receipt of a state pension, and the combined amount would be greater than £81.80 a week.

My mother was property rich cash poor and lived with Alzheimers for a decade.

1. AA was useful in all sorts of ways as a confirmation she was disabled.
2. In the early days when I was still sorting out her affairs it was incredibly useful to have some money coming in. (It took 3 months to clear her flat from haording once she moved to sheltered, she had over 60 different bank and savings accounts and had been a major victim of fraudsters and pushy charities and had not completed a tax return for several years. It was over a year before I got things straight.)
3. Psychologically it helps older people to have some "free" money coming in. Feeling there is money for a taxi, so you can afford to give up a car. Perhaps have the heating on on a cold day. Etc.
4. So what. Yes DM received a small ammount from the state, but she otherwise remained self funding through her final years despite growing care needs. She ended up paya very large IHT bill so the taxpayer did fine out of her.

Of course £81.80 is a perfectly acceptable rate of pay for someone caring 24/7 who is also saving the state a fortune. (sarcasm)