Hi all. I care for my husband who has a mental illness. We live in Dorset and are in our 50s. I’d like help with advice on money for a break and also general benefits advice.
My husband gets contribution based ESA (support group) and PIP standard rate. I just receive carers allowance as going on to ESA would mean changing my husbands ESA claim to a joint one which would automatically change it to income based ESA, something we would very much like to avoid as my husbands elderly parents legacy to him should they die would be lost.
We claim housing benefit and our son who lives With us and works pays his share of the rent and bills. We live in 2 bed private rented accommodation and are overcrowded as my husband needs his own bedroom, this has been verified by the doctor and accepted by the council, they say when we have a larger property we will be entitled to the two-bedroom rate of HB.
My benefit gets used mainly for food and fuel and I am getting depressed at having little money of my own. I’ve tried to find out how much I can earn without it affecting our housing benefit but not had any success. If any fellow carers can give me tips or advice on her circumstances would be very grateful. It’s often helpful to have an outside eye looking in I find
With regard to holidays I have tried all the local carers charities and the carers to Auch website we put in your postcode but there are no services available in our area – we are quite Rural. I had a grant from a charity last year for massages which was wonderful But I can’t apply again until the end of next year. I can’t tell you how much the messages helped my health and mental well-being and those or a holiday would be wonderful Any advice gratefully received.
thanks in advance 
Hi Meadowsanddaisies.
An online benefits calculator … ideal for those " What if " scenarios … and / or expert advice … CAB and / or CUK’s Advice Team ?
The choice is yours.
Links to all three follow :
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
( CUK … Best by email. )
Council Tax … disregard / discount ?
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Housing Allowance / Housing Benefit … extra room ( Potential bedroom tax ) … have a word with Shelter BEFORE doing anything positive :
Much more on the problems with both the HA and HB on the following thread :
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In case it’s needed , a guide to home care services … what’s available , and who provides them :
Needs / Carer Assessments … upto date ? … the gateway to respite care … probably with a price tag.
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If respite care unaffordable … very few can afford to replace themselves as carers … another useful link :
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Financing respite care.
There are several options open to you when it comes to financing respite care, such as funding from the local authority, charities or self-funding.
( Given the demand , a minimum of 4 million family / kinship carers without funds to pay for respite care … would be akin to winning a sizeable amount on the lottery ? )
ah thanks fo4 all that Chris that’s very sweet of you. One more question which might be covered in what you posted as I haven’t looked yet any idea where I can find specific information about earning whilst on carers allowance and its impact on housing benefit? I was wondering if there are ways around it i.e. expenses, Disregards etc. We need more income but I don’t want to put our housing benefit at risk Thank you x
Yep … more on those aspects WHEN you have digested most of the above.
That online benefits calculator :
Try adding a few £s to income … staying within that £ 123 limit … and then see just how much you lose in other benefits per every £ 1 earned !
Can be as high as … 48% … first hand experience with a client of my local food bank … records are meant to be broken ?
Couple of recent threads on this aspect … and a question left with CUK on the current BENEFITS / RIGHTS SESSION thread which is due to end tomorrow.
Okay thank you, I’ll try again. Every time I’ve tried in the past it keeps changing it to my receiving ESA when that isn’t possible in my current situation but hey ho, I’ll give it a go. Thanks very much again 
Therein lies the route to links 2 and 3 … expert advice … time for an expert to play around with the " What if " scenarios ???
Brilliant, thanks a million xx
Your welcome.
Can you explain a little more about the legacy you are expecting from your husband’s parents when they die?
If it is property or a substantial sum of money, then go and talk to a solicitor about the best way of this being left to your husband, because there are a range of options available. (I’m doing this for my sons and grandson at the moment).
However, you always need to bear in mind that if they need nursing care towards the end of their lives (they must be at least 70?) then there may be no legacy to inherit.