Dear members,
We are living in a 3 bedroom private rented property and receiving Universal credit but our housing benefit entitlement is only for 2 bedrooms. We got one disabled child who is receiving higher care component and lower mobility rate. My wife is receiving carers allowance for looking after the child.
During the night it’s very difficult to handle the child as he doesn’t sleep and hits and bites us and try to hurt himself. We got family friends who looks after our child overnight. They are unpaid carers and they stay overnight to look after our child. Based on our situation are we entitled for extra bedroom housing benefit? If yes then what are the conditions ?
Does UC asks for unpaid family friends carers details?
What if unpaid carers doesn’t want to get involve to share their personal details?
You are definitely entitled to the extra bedroom. Have a look at the local council’s rules.
However, can I ask why the friends aren’t being paid?
When did you last have a Carers Assessment? Ask for this respite to be funded.
Are you aware of NHS Continuing Healthcare? Might be worth investigating.
It all depends on the borough, I had a similar issue and I had the Children’s social worker write a letter that over night care if often needed and the room is in use because of it. If you send that on to them that should then cover it, if not then some councils also have discretionary housing payments which you can apply for and use to cover the difference.
So it’s not UC who decides to increase extra bedroom benefit?
They are close family members like cousins and always help us.They said they don’t need any money.
We never heard about carer assessment but will have a look.
We heard about short term breaks. It’s also known as RSA form. We heard from our child’s school but the school said to fill up the form yourself as they can’t help or arrange a social worker to get it filled. That form is one of the most difficult to fill. Unfortunately we couldn’t fill ourselves so we had to leave it.
I haven’t heard about NHS continuing healtcare but i will have a look.
I have requested school staff to arrange a social worker for my child. They said that going to make a referral.
I thought it’s Universal Credit who manages the housing benefit. Someone has advised me to leave a message on your journal and then the case manager will ask to complete to-do-list and there you can explain them.
It dosen’t look as simple. Definitely i would need a letter from social worker that my child needs to be look after at night.
Did they ask you to provide details of carers or is there any condition that if you want extra bedroom benefit than the carer need to be geeting paid ?
In that case, you need to ask the council for a “Care Act Advocate” to help you navigate the system. Be sure to make the request in writing (email is fine).
I think your whole situation needs a complete and thorough review from someone local to you.
You should not be denied any services because you can’t manage to do the form. There should be help and support (and maybe they should make the form more “user friendly”?!)
I’ve been involved with various aspects of social care since I was a teenager, and now I’m 73, and in that time I’ve had a total of 10 family carees, from new born to 87, now just my 46 year old son with brain damage who lives nearby. I’ve had major surgery and been very disabled myself, so I hang around here to help others by sharing what I’ve learned, usually the hard way.
You need both a Care Act Advocate to support you with forms etc and also a Social Worker to assess your needs, and your son’s needs.
Be sure to apply for things in writing/email so you have evidence of what has happened, and when.
How old is your son? Is he going to a mainstream or special school?
Are they supportive?
He is 7 years old and going to special school.
They are more supportive for those who speaks same language. That’s what i have noticed.
But this time we have spoken to familiy liason lady and class teacher and we have expalain our child situation so they told his that they going to email social worker and school nurse to contact you after schoold holidays.
My sister in law was Egyptian,
I did wonder if they were not many any adjustments for English not being your first language.
This is not acceptable.
Definitely ask Social Services for a Care Act Advocate, preferably someone fluent in both languages.
The Advocate will support your family through the process of getting the family everything you are entitled to, especially when talking to the social worker.
Do not let them use unusual words or say anything that you don’t understand. Be sure to stop them and ask them to explain. (This is something I often complain about!)
Once you have everything sorted, please share what you have learned with others in your community, it is so important.
From what I know, UC can sometimes cover an extra bedroom if someone regularly stays overnight to care for a disabled person, even if they’re not paid. But they usually ask for some proof, like how often the person stays and why they’re needed.