Idiopathic lung fibrosis

[Sweetpea731]

Hi

I am new to this site, I have been caring for my mother who has ipf for last five years. I am 68, does anyone know if I can claim a carers allowance for this condition? Any advice would be appreciated on this. She is not currently on oxygen but very limited to what she can do, plus recent fall and fractures in pelvis.

site

[knitter]

Hi and welcome .I claimed Attendance Allowance on behalf of my frail parents, but that was a few years ago now . The Citizens Advice Bureau will know .

The BLF have a helpline they will be able to advise about any benefits due .

Open on Monday for UK residents ...office hours .

The BLF also have a website .

Tel no . 03000 030 555.

Best wishes .

[madonbrew]

I think that if you are caring for your mum for 35 hours a week or more then you should be able to. If your mum gets attendance allowance then that probably helps with your claim. If she doesn’t get attendance allowance it’s worth putting in a claim too!

[Hidden]

Welcome to the forum.

Carer’s allowance is not condition dependent, but there are certain eligibility criteria that have to be met. You need to be caring for the same person for 35 hours a week or more. The individual you care for must be in receipt of either PIP or Attendance Allowance (or DLA at middle rate care or higher, although this is mostly children, now), and there is an eligibility cap on earnings per week after deduction of tax/NI etc., either as an employee or on a self-employed basis. This fact sheet from Carers UK goes into further detail regarding CA itself:

carersuk.org/images/Factshe...

However, the situation is slightly different for older carers, as you can’t claim the full amount of both CA and the state pension, so whether or not you would receive anything depends on how much pension you receive, and you would only receive the difference between your weekly pension payment and the rate of CA, which is currently £67.60 a week. Under the circumstances, I would start with this link that deals with being a pension-age carer and the financial implications/benefit options, including in relation to claiming carer’s allowance:

carersuk.org/help-and-advic...

Hope that helps a little bit.

[hypercat54]

Hi I am fairly certain that you can't get any carers allowance if you are in receipt of your state pension. You can apply and get an underlying entitlement to it which could open up other benefits though.

Why not contact the BLF benefits advisor? Their number is on the site and they work office hours. Good luck.

[Alberta56]

Welcome to the forum.