DLA and Carers allowance rough figures ?

[cantbelieve]

My 10 month old son has just been diagnosed with a rare severe chromosome disorder. I currently am off sick from work as we only just found out but I really dont think I can carry on working as the amount of therapies and appointments he has are huge and take up most days of the week. We need to find out if we can survive without me working though. Does anyone know what the figures are for these benefits roughly ? I guess I would get the high rate as his needs are so great. Also will my partners income be taken into account as although he earns a good wage it is swallowed up by our huge mortgage :-( and I dont want to have to move if possible as we have 2 older children and I want to keep their lives and stable and normal as possible and they are happy where we are. Thanks for all your help.

rates are [https://www.gov.uk/dla-disability-living-allowance-benefit/what-youll-get HERE]

I have no idea how easy it is to got DLA for a 10 months old though.

If you get at last middle rate care you can also claim Carer's Allowance (if you earn less then £100 per week; your husbands income does not matter, just yours). DLA is also not means tested - so family income does not matter either.

here

Hi cantbelieve, sorry to hear that you've had such a sudden diagnosis. DLA is issued at 3 rates for care: Low, Mid and High and mobility: Low, high.

The rates are as follows, for 2012:

Low rate care:£20.55
Middle rate care:£51.85
High rate care:£77.45

Low rate mobility:£20.55
High rate mobility:£54.05

Carers allowance is currently £54.45 per week

To get Low rate care, you have to show care needs of over 1 hour per day in total.

To get Middle rate care, you have to show that care needs are frequent throughout the day, or at night.

To get High rate care, you have to show that care needs are both frequent throughout the day and required for a prolonged period at night, or frequent shorter periods throughout the night, on at least 5 days out of 7 each week.

Any care that is typical for a 10 month old baby will be disregarded, so you will need to show that the time you spend caring for him/her is in addition to the care that you would normally give a baby.

You won't be eligible for Mobility until your child is 3 years old. However, if you have bulky equipment to carry, then you may be able to get a blue badge before then.

To qualify for carer's allowance, your child will need to receive middle or high rate care.

You will find that if you are eligible for tax credits, these will go up if you qualify for DLA.

Thankyou thats great info, its really not alot is it :-( how life changes in an instant.

Was your child showing signs of being poorly before you got the diagnosis?

They said he had developmental delay initially but was making good progress then the chromosome test came back and destroyed any hope we had :-(

If you get higher rate care it all adds up to a substantial sum of money. If you get tax credits you get a premium which is added for disabled children - I think that's about another £80 a week.

Ahh can'tbelieve, it must feel like that right now, but progress is progress Remember, whatever the chromosomes are doing now, they were doing then and he made progress despite them.

If you want to talk about your DS, feel free. We all know that feeling of despair when everything seems so wrong.

Yes, the key is to compare with a typical 10 month old - and really spell out the things you do which are over and above that and require much more time. And the things he needs which other 10 month olds do not need.

Filling in the forms is quite awful.

I've got a rare neurological disability, I get HR mobility and MR care. It's about £100 a week. You have to spell out in minute detail all the deficits, things that need doing over and above "ordinary" people. You've got to do it about the worst day you have had, it's very demoralising, but worth it to get the help you need - my DLA goes on my PA and taxis!

Worth applying for the blue badge if you need to carry a lot of stuff around or if your ds could need sudden transport eg to hospital.

I'm so sorry to hear your news, it's bad enough dealing with this for myself, I can't imagine what it would be like if it was one of my dc. Take care x

www.cerebra.org.uk/English/getinformation/publications/Pages/DLAGuide.aspx is very good for helping complete the dla forms.
www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx will let you se the possible benefit figures for your individual circumstances.

I think filling in the forms for a young baby is difficult, because you have to show what care they need over and above the "typical" child and of course any baby needs a lot of care. But it is possible!! Do you have a children's community nurse - they will often help to fill the forms in for you.