I just don’t understand the financial assessment

Benefits, finances and funding
1

Hi all new to the forum, extremely stressed and really at the edge of what I can handle now.

My young adult son has just moved into his own property and receives direct payments to pay for support workers. He’s been assessed as having to pay £83 a week for care.

His universal credit and benefits add up to £1000 a month or so. They want to take £350 of that. They say £150 a week should be enough to live on.

I know about DRE but his costs aren’t necessarily disability related.

What I have an issue with is the idea that £150 a week is enough to live on. His main weekly bills are: £25 oil, £19 electricity, £8 water, £60 shopping, £10 internet & phone line.

That comes to £122 a week. That doesn’t include insurance, clothing, shoes, entertainment, disability club memberships. mobile phone, ability to save for days out or holidays, gym membership, buying anything at all, ever, paying for appliances, furnishings, maintaining a home, or fuel costs to take him to his disability clubs that are quite a distance away. Imagine he wanted his pet to move in with him. Pet food, medication, insurance. He has £28 a week left over for all of that. He likes to go to the pub on a Thursday evening with his support worker and spend 4.50 on a drink and play chess…

I thinks it’s outrageous that someone with £12000 a year income should be expected to pay nearly a third of that towards something that is meant to put him at a level most of us are at by default, just to be able to take part in life. And by paying that he’s unable to take part in life, because he’s got nothing left.

Sorry for the rant
I can’t take anymore now.

2 Likes
2

Hi, Tiredtiredtired…

Have you told them about those costs you’ve listed? Some of them at least should be justifiable. Take a look here: Disability-related expenses | Carers UK

3

Thank you very much for your reply, I will look into it now. :pray:t3:

4

My son was assessed as having to pay first £75, then £45, then….NOTHING! First two assessments done by one officer, the third by another. Seems very unfair that different officers in the same authority can have such different opinions?! Ask for a written copy of their assessment. If someone is getting a 24 hour PIP rate but the L A isn’t providing overnight care, they should not claim all the PIP just the day rate. Mobility should not be considered either.

5

The rules on using PIP are different from those for DLA and AA. For the care component of DLA there are time-based rates: day or night, and 24 hour, basically. Same for AA/Constant Attendance Allowance. But PIP is not time based, it’s based on the severity of need for support, so local authorities can take all of it into account. That was one of the sneakier changes introduced with PIP.

The Mobility Component still can’t be touched for care costs, though.