Benefits available to PH Patients

• Incapacity Benefit
• Attendance Allowance
• Invalid Care Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Motability
• The Family Fund Trust
• Useful Addresses

Incapacity Benefit

For the first six months you are unable to work you will receive Statutory Sick Pay, and will have to complete a medical certificate. After six months you will have to complete an IB50 Incapacity for work questionnaire, and obtain a form 4 completed by your GP, and you will no longer have to send a medical certificate, and will receive Incapacity Benefit.

If you are not eligible to Incapacity benefit because you do not have enough NI credits you can claim Income Support.

You will have to complete a form IB50 from time to time which very much depends on your state of health, you may also be required to attend an independent medical examination.

There are several benefits that may be awarded to you if you are claiming the above, such as Housing benefit and Council Tax benefit.

There are circumstances whereby, if you are able to work, but have to reduce your hours, you can still claim benefit.

Details of all of the above benefits will be sent to you by the Benefits Agency when you first claim Incapacity Benefit or Income Support due to illness.

NON-CONTRIBUTORY BENEFITS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE AND THEIR CARERS

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance is money that is paid to people over the age of 65 who need a lot of looking after. It may be paid regardless of how much money you have, and you do not have to pay tax on it. It is normally paid to disabled people themselves and no National Insurance contributions are needed.

To qualify for Attendance Allowance you must have needed help with personal care or needed looking after for at least six months by day or at night.

People who need looking after both day and night receive the higher rate and those people who need looking after by day or by night get the lower rates.

Whether you get Attendance Allowance depends on how your disability affects your care needs and not the type of illness or disability you may have. You may get Attendance Allowance if for example you need a lot of help from others to achieve any of the following:-

• Wash and bathe
• Eat and drink
• Use the toilet
• Get in and out of bed
• Dress and undress
• Avoid substantial danger to yourself or others.

To claim Attendance Allowance you can obtain a pack from you social security office and for further information ask for leaflet DS702.

Payment of Attendance Allowance is used by other schemes as a way of confirming disablement; it may qualify you for:-

Disabled persons rail card

The disability premium and severe disability premium in calculating Income Support, Hosing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

For information about road tax exemption write to:-

N9 DSS, Block 3, Government Buildings, Warbreck Hill Road, Blackpool FY2 0UZ

Invalid Care Allowance

Invalid Care Allowance is money that is paid to people of working age who are unable to work full-time because they are caring for a severely disabled person who is at home. Payment of Invalid Care Allowance does not depend on level of savings or whether you have paid any National Insurance contributions. However, if you are paid the allowance you will be credited with NI contributions. The allowance counts as taxable income.

To qualify you must be:-
Over the age of 16 and under the age of 65
Spend at least 35 hours each week caring for some who is getting at least the middle rate of Disability Living Allowance care component or Attendance Allowance
You earn £72 net per week or less
Invalid Care allowance cannot be paid in full if you could also get any of the following benefits:-

• Incapacity benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Jobseekers Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Retirement Pension
• Training Allowance

These benefits are said to overlap and you can only receive the difference between the weekly rate of ICA and the week rate of other benefits. If another benefit is paid at a higher rate than ICA you will not receive payment of ICA.

You can get additional amounts of Invalid Care Allowance for dependants.

You can obtain a claim pack DS700 from your local social security office.

Disability Living Allowance

Disability Living Allowance is money that is paid to people who are severely disabled and who, as a result, has, either personal care needs, mobility needs or both.

It is paid to assist with some of the additional costs because of disability. It is tax- free and does not depend on National Insurance Contributions. It is not normally affected by income, savings or most social security benefits, Constant Attendance Allowance and War Pensioners Mobility Supplement being the exceptions. These are equivalent benefits but paid by the War Pensions or Industrial Injuries Scheme.

Disability Living Allowance comprises of two components; Care and Mobility both have different rates of pay.

You cannot claim this allowance if you are over the age of 65. The higher rate of mobility component is payable from age 3, lower rate from age 5 and the care component from age 3 months (from birth when child is terminally ill).

For children under 16 to qualify they need be have substantially greater care than other children of the same age.

Care Component

There are three rates:-

Lowest:

• Needs attention with bodily functions for a significant part of the day or
• If aged over 16, unable to prepare a cooked main meal
  

Middle:

• Needs frequent attention with bodily functions throughout the day or
• Needs continual supervision throughout the day to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others or
• Needs prolonged or repeated attention at night in connection with bodily functions
• Needs someone to be awake during the night for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals in order to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others.

Highest:

• Satisfies both daytime and a night-time condition listed above.

 

Mobility Component

Lower:

• Aged 5 or over and are able to walk but needs someone with them to provide guidance or supervision for most of the time when they are outdoors on unfamiliar routes.

Higher:

• Aged 5 and over and are virtually unable to walk due to a physical disability or

• Has had both legs amputated at or above the ankle
• Born with out legs or feet
• Both deaf and blind and needs someone with them outdoors
• Severely mentally impaired, with severe behavioural problems and qualifying for the highest rate of the care component
• The effort required to walk would cause a danger to your life or cause deterioration in your health
• If you can use an artificial aid such as a walking stick or an artificial limb, then your ability to walk using that aid is assessed.

You also receive exemption from car tax. The request form is sent to you when you are informed of your eligibility.

Receipt of either component at any rate acts as a passport to the disability premium, the disabled child's premium or higher pension premium. People getting jobseekers allowance can be exempted from having to be available for work if they are caring for someone who gets the higher or middle rate of the care component.

Leaflet DS704 gives information about qualifying conditions. A claim pack can be obtained from your local social security offices.

Motability

You can use the higher rate of the mobility component to pay for a car through Motability. The DSS pays the money, all or part, direct to Motability Finance on your behalf.

Motability is a registered charity which helps people receiving the higher rate mobility component get a car. New cars are available on contract hire, or bought on hire purchase. Electric wheelchairs, scooters and used cars are also available through the hire purchase scheme. Finance is provided through a separate company, Motability Finance Ltd.

You must have been awarded the higher rate for a period, which will cover at least the period of the hire or hire purchase agreement. The minimum periods required are:

• HP New.................................. 4 or 5 years
• Used Car HP............................ 2 or 3 years
• Electric wheelchair/Scooter........ 2 or 3 years

To have a car on contract hire you need to period to be 3 years. Smaller cars can be for less that the full amount of the allowance and you are paid the difference. Larger cars can take the whole of the allowance and you may have to pay a deposit at the beginning of the contract. You also have to pay for any adaptations and to have them removed at the expiry of the agreement. You need to contact garages who show the motability sign.

Repairs and maintenance is provided free, but it is your responsibility to arrange for the servicing and repairs. Insurance is included as part of the agreement for two drivers, an extra driver can be added at extra cost. RAC cover is also included. A charge is made if your average mileage exceeds 12,000 per year.

Motability may be able to help with costs of adaption from their charitable funds if you have difficulty with finance.

The Family Fund Trust

www.familyfundtrust.org.uk

The Family Fund Trust is an independent organisation registered as a charity.

The purpose of the Trust is to ease the stress on families in the UK who care for severely disabled children under 16, by providing grants and information related to the care of the child.

The Trust is funded by the national governments of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Useful Addresses

Benefits Enquiry Line is on 0800 882200
Disability Benefits, Unit Warbreck House, Warnbreck Hill Road, Blackpool, FY2 OYE
Invalid Care Allowance, Unit DSS, Palatine House, Lancaster Road, Preston, PR1 1NS
Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5PX.... Telephone 0127 963 5999