# Carers Allowance Refused



## nearlywed (3 Sep 2009)

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone can advise me as to how to proceed. My son who is 5 has Autism and i therefore receive Domiciliary Care Allowance. Since i work full time my mother looks after my son in her own home every day. I drop him off at 7.45am and collect him at 6pm. My mum feeds him, dresses him, brings and collects him from school and does all the daily things that i should be doing eg: parent teacher meeting, doc appointments etc. Realistically she is his primary care giver apart from evenings/weekends. He has his own bedroom in my mums, stays maybe one night a week as i am often sent to the country to work overnight. 

We submitted my mums carers allowance application a couple of months ago. She had two home visits from Social Welfare Officers, both times unannounced and everything seemed to go fine. I have only moved from my mums house in the last few months, she has always looked after my son but obviously she takes care of him for longer hours since i moved out. 
She received a letter this morning to say they have refused her application on the grounds that it is not evident she provides full time care and attention. I would estimate she looks after my son for around 50 hours each week??!!
Is there any point in appealing the decision? If they had asked to speak to me i would gladly have filled them in on how much she does actually do. I'm so annoyed as i was of the belief that she would have been more than entitled to this allowance. If i had the money i'd give up work myself to look after my son and would claim Carer's Allowance myself but unfortunately that is not an option!

Any advice would be appreciated!


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## Mpsox (3 Sep 2009)

The HSE guidelines are on the link below. At first glance, there may be 2 reasons, firstly is on grounds of the means test and secondly, because your son does not live full time with your mother (as he does not sleep there), the care she is giving may not meet the criteria of "full time care"

I'd also suggest you contact Citizens Advice and see can they help

[broken link removed]


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## nearlywed (3 Sep 2009)

Thanks for that. The only income they are in receipt of is my fathers state pension so i think he only receives a minimal payment in respect of my mum. 
We had contacted citizens advice who said that 8 hours a day of care was considered full time care. I think we'll appeal it and if that fails i will have to weigh up our options. I know i'd never be able to afford to give up work but i feel so guilty that my mum is doing all the stuff that i should be doing but not getting the entitlement for it!!!


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## mathepac (3 Sep 2009)

If you receive the full DCA, [broken link removed] , what allowance did your mother apply for or was it a transfer of the DCA you sought?

What about splitting the DCA pro-rata with your mother?


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## stephnyc (3 Sep 2009)

+1 on grounds of "full time care"

If he is cared for for 10hrs 15mins by your mum (7.45am-6pm), how much of that does he spend in school? Would that mean <8hrs per day in your mums care?

Best of luck with it, I hope it works out


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## Welfarite (3 Sep 2009)

'Full-time care and attention' means just that. Your mother looks after him for 10 of 24 hours a day, five out of seven days, so this obviously is not considered as 'full-time' under the regulations for Carer's Allowance, and I don't see how Citizen's Advice could tell you that it is. Even where a carer lives with a caree they will not get CA if they work more than 15 hours a week.You only avenue is to appeal the decision.


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## jrewing (3 Sep 2009)

Caring for Carers can also help you with advice on entitlements:


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