Money Grabbing Disabled Pensioners

[Goingtoseed]

I post on other forums primarily relating to disabilities.

One recent post I noticed on a well known forum had me fuming
No wonder society is misjudging the disabled and in particular the disabled pensioners.

Quote:
'Get in touch with adult services at your council, GP will advise on this, also ask GP about community nurse visits, get PIP and if enhanced mobility then Motability car, blue badge , free bridge and motorway tolls, free bus and train pass, nominate a carer and they go free or reduced rate too, there are some volunteer groups that will help with shopping and maybe light chores, but first call is to adult services at council........'

That sort of attitude I do not like. It portrays them as money grabbers under the cover of ' 'I am disabled and a pensioner and because of that I am entitled'

I appreciate that some disabilities do incur extra costs - but not that many. I have a whole host of issues that together were accepted by the DWP for me to be awarded PIP Enhanced Care & Mobility.

In all honesty I cannot think of one thing that does incur extra money because of a disability. On that I am talking about heart issues, lung issues, hips, neck and leg issues, disease of the arteries, acquired brain injury etc etc.

Yes I do have a Blue Badge. My wife (76) receives the day and night highest award of Attendance Allowance for life due mainly because of Arthritis issues but she is not allowed one.

Play fair - just because some have a misplaced 'I'm entitled' attitude you are causing society to be very sceptical of the so called disabled brigade.

[GrannyMac]

Extra costs can surely include paying a cleaner to do household chores; paying a carer for personal help with bathing, dressing, food preparation; paying a gardener; taking taxis if public transport and driving are no longer options,

I have no issue with information being widely disseminated.  That is partly because we missed out years ago, my OH should have received some level of DLA, but we were ill informed and had no idea he was eligible, even after my visiting the benefits office to enquire.  Only later did we discover from a hospital social worker that his level of disability due to heart failure was well within the criteria for DLA as it was then.   I hope everyone who needs financial help due to genuine, seriously debilitating conditions gets it. Especially those who have not had the opportunity to earn enough to help themselves.  I grit my teeth because I know people play the system, some have lived a fairly active life for years without ever working. Not everyone is honest, or even honourable!

Anyone developing a seriously debilitating condition after retirement gets treated quite differently and less favourably by the DWP If what I read was true? If I'm wrong on that count someone will put me right! 

[mick607]

Some oeople including OAPs are money grabbers & claiming everything they possibly can.I know of a woman who claims enhanced care & mobility of PIP which entitles her to a new car every three years including a blue badge. All of her motoring costs are taken care of except her fuel cost with a deduction from her PIP. Her partner claims carer's allowance.Her & her partner claim free bus travel as well,What really gets my goat is her & disabled people who moan about having to pay parking charges in some car parks.Her level of benefits could quite easily pay for parking, some of the benefits pay for many holidays including foreign travel & the latest all sing all dancing smartphone every year for her & her partner.I honestly believer to mobility component of DLA/PIP shoukld stop at pension age to bring them in line with pensioners claiming attendance allowance who get no mobility component.Don't forget many working age people also have full time jobs & the DLA/PIP is completely tax free.A 25% council tax reduction is also claimable with a DLA/PIP award.Perhaps GTS could explain, is it right for a claimant to be disabled & awarded DLA/PIP to then claim carer's allowance for some one else ?A bit like having your cake & eating it.I wish disability benefits were more fairer, some genuine people get nothing yet some so called diabled claimants laugh all the way to the bank each month.By all means award benefits where there is a need but do it more fairly.

[Goingtoseed]

Extra costs can surely include paying a cleaner to do household chores; paying a carer for personal help with bathing, dressing, food preparation; paying a gardener; taking taxis if public transport and driving are no longer options,

I have no issue with information being widely disseminated.  That is partly because we missed out years ago, my OH should have received some level of DLA, but we were ill informed and had no idea he was eligible, even after my visiting the benefits office to enquire.  Only later did we discover from a hospital social worker that his level of disability due to heart failure was well within the criteria for DLA as it was then.   I hope everyone who needs financial help due to genuine, seriously debilitating conditions gets it. Especially those who have not had the opportunity to earn enough to help themselves.  I grit my teeth because I know people play the system, some have lived a fairly active life for years without ever working. Not everyone is honest, or even honourable!

Anyone developing a seriously debilitating condition after retirement gets treated quite differently and less favourably by the DWP If what I read was true? If I'm wrong on that count someone will put me right!

As I have said I don't have any extra costs but some may well do. To suggest that it is OK that get what you can how you can based on the 'I'm entitled' view is wrong.

There is absolutely nothing wrong provided that there are genuine and provable difficulties in claiming DWP benefits - I do. What my post was highlighting is that when someone says that they have a 'disability' that has only arisen because of age they should get everything free even down to demanding money from Social Services to pay for a PA.
There are two types of disability (which the DWP do highlight) DLA/PIP for those disabilities that arose during working life and those that have arisen because they are getting older for which Attendance Allowance is payable.

Yes those that claim for a disability that has arisen since retirement should be treated differently. We all know, much like my wife, that the likes of Arthritis generally is an condition because of getting older.
Because of that the availability of the Mobility element is not available. If it was most of those over 65 would be taking advantage of the Motability cars.

[Goingtoseed]

Perhaps GTS could explain, is it right for a claimant to be disabled & awarded DLA/PIP to then claim carer's allowance for some one else ?A bit like having your cake & eating it.I wish disability benefits were more fairer, some genuine people get nothing yet some so called diabled claimants laugh all the way to the bank each month.By all means award benefits where there is a need but do it more fairly.

Benefits such as PIP or AA are not based on what you have paid in nor are they means tested.
There is a damn good argument in my opinion that they should be both.
Only the carer, if there is one can claim Carers Allowance provided they prove their role as such.
 
Also anyone over pension age that actually provides care for someone else is precluded from receiving Carers Allowance on the basis that they already receive a 'an income substitute' in the form of the state pension.
So the case where husband and wife who are both state pensioners and each claims to care for the other no extra payment will be made.

However when we get into the world of the means testing of Pensioners then that is a whole different game with different rules.

[Diasi]

Also anyone over pension age that actually provides care for someone else is precluded from receiving Carers Allowance on the basis that they already receive a 'an income substitute' in the form of the state pension.

Which means that pensioners such ronyork & myself just get a partial State Pension, as part of it is really a payment for being a carer for which others get a carer's allowance.

[Michael Rolls]

That was my position as well
Mike

[Diasi]

That was my position as well
Mike

You, ronyork & I must have saved the State £thousands between us by self-funding our care duties out of our State Pensions, for which we've already paid.

[Michael Rolls]

Well, had I been under 65 I would have qualified for Carer's Allowance, and my assumption of that is that it is seen as a recompense for caring for a disabled person - but their 'logic' is that post 65 I don'r need it because I have the State Pension - but Veronica was still disabled, regardless of my age - so the way I see it is that a pensioner not looking after a disabled person is treated more generously than one who is. For me it was academic - I was well over 65 when Veronica became disabled, but I can see anyone under 65 and a carer being pretty bitter about it
Mike

[Michael Rolls]

Oh, and Veronica's disability meant that had she not had me to care for her she would have had to be in a home. To be fair, for the first couple of years she could just have about managed on her own with some help coming in for an hour or two a day, but not for the last nine years of her life. In a home - charging £1,000 to £1,500 a week - that would be quite a bit of money
Don't get me wrong - absolutely no way would I have seen her in a home so long as I was physically and/or mentally capable of caring for her, but looking at it purely in monetary terms, I reckon the state did quite well out of me

Mike

[mick607]

Oh, and Veronica's disability meant that had she not had me to care for her she would have had to be in a home. To be fair, for the first couple of years she could just have about managed on her own with some help coming in for an hour or two a day, but not for the last nine years of her life. In a home - charging £1,000 to £1,500 a week - that would be quite a bit of money
Don't get me wrong - absolutely no way would I have seen her in a home so long as I was physically and/or mentally capable of caring for her, but looking at it purely in monetary terms, I reckon the state did quite well out of me

Mike

That is a typical example of the disability mess in the UK, disability benefits are unfairly distributed so some get the biggest slice of the cake & the majority get the crumbs.Benefits need to be fair to everyone & older people should not have to pay for care home costs after a lifetime of tax paying.
I was talking to my wife the other day & she has recwived a pension forecast for when she gets her pension next year.
We calculated a figure what she has lost (based on DWPs own figures) by losing her state pension for six years. Afrightening amount.But still some one has to fund the asylum seekers, EU immigrants the workshy etc etc etc.When I read about people like Michael Rolls & ronyork having to struggle at their time of life caring for a loved one really shows me what an uncaring govt we have in the UK.£Billions spent on foreign aid & cultural diversity including EU immigration  but we can't look after our own people first.This country is screwed.

[Michael Rolls]

Thanks for your kind words, Mick. We were lucky in that financially we were ok (but I would far rather have been broke and Veronica healthy) but not everyone is so lucky.
Mike

[mick607]

Of course you would Michael, Bless you both.

[crabbyob]

have you noticed how many immigrants wander round the town centre carrying an aluminium walking stick while wearing a foam neck brace.. i wonder why..
they likely got injured carrying full shopping bags for the first time in their lives
these are the vermin we need rid of...

[Goingtoseed]

Which means that pensioners such ronyork & myself just get a partial State Pension, as part of it is really a payment for being a carer for which others get a carer's allowance.

Effectively you are right.
The way the government see it is that they pay you the state pension and it would not be right to pay you again for a caring role.

This is no different for those in receipt of contribution based ESA who are also a carer. They cannot have both benefits at the same time.