I am a carer for my mum who is 60 and had PD for around 10 years. So put it bluntly her progression is fast, and symptoms are awful. She requires 24 hour care, and most days can barely lift a glass of water to her mouth and more.
I’ve been able to manage this year and have been working from home due to covid. So can take regular breaks from the laptop to help her.
With going back to work in December imminent - I am STRONGLY considering, and have pretty much decided to leave work at the end of December to care for my mum.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiance with what benefits I’d be claiming and what my ‘carers’ wage might be? We have a large mortage to pay, so need to get this all figured out.
Current situation:
In process of applying for early retirement for mum. Been off work for over a year, so sick pay has now been removed.
I earn around £1050 a month with my current job.
Only mum and I in the house so no additional incomes.
There’s lots of info out there. The link below is for information on the Parkinson’s UK site and you can ring the help desk too, it may help to speak to someone
I am also including a screenshot with some other ways of getting info. I would highlight the gov.uk site as they have a benefits calculator and also carers uk for obvious reasons. Citizens advice should also be able to help. Hope this sets you off in the right direction. Good luck and don’t forget to look after yourself whilst looking after your mum. You matter too and you must take care and stay well so that you can care for your mum as you wish.
PS forgot to say make sure your mum is getting all she is entitled to whilst you’re at it. Its a complex area so be prepared to do a lot of reading and form filling.
Good luck
I see Tot has supplied some excellent support links and advice to help you find financial assistance as a Parkinson’s carer. (Thanks, Tot!) In addition to those resources you can search for local Parkinson’s support groups that may be able to help. You can find a post code search bar here: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/local-groups. And as always don’t hesitate to contact us at 0808 800 0303 or [email protected] for free and confidential assistance.
Hi I have just seen this, my husband has an attendance allowance and a blue badge but we had the help of a lovely lady who is an expert at filling in the forms. We are not stupid, we both had good jobs, I was an accountant, but I am sure without the help we got we would not have filled in the form in the right way as it is no good just putting in the actual detail, you have to put worst case (what it is like on the worst day not the best) and expand on the detail.
Hi … I wondered how you got on with this. I gave up my home and work in June 2020, to care for my mum who is 85 yrs with Parkinsons. I applied for carers allowance and universal credit. I get carers allowance of £67.65 a week but UC application was disallowed due to my savings being more than £13,000 (this was saved to help my son to go to University), apparently I can live on that, was the advice from the person from universal credit who called me about this.
Not sure how £67.65 a week pays for anything to be honest. Thank god for my mum’s pension right, but how awful is that. At 55 years old, having to rely on my mum’s pension to survive and not being able to provide for my son. (I’m divorced from his father, who is supportive but who lives overseas.)
Good luck with everything. You posted this in November 2020 so I presume you’ve managed to get it all sorted now so I’d be interested in how it worked out if you don’t mind sharing. It’s tough and they do not make it easy to apply for anything or claim anything.
Hi Karens,
We just wanted to say welcome to the forum, and make sure you saw that we replied to your other post with some information we hope can help.
Best wishes,
Jason
Mod Team
Hello you have my sympathy, ì know exactly what it’s like to have benefits throw every penny into one pot irregardless of what your savings are for and assume its available to spend on just living and we’re not talking extravagant either. May I suggest you check things out with citizens advice or a local benefits advisor- not only is it a hugely complex area but you need to fill the form in in a way that gives you the best chance and that’s not to suggest you’re not capable it is just a specific skiĺl like any other. Be prepared to be tenacious and don’t give up until you’ve explored all avenues including how you manage your money. I wish you luck.
