help about domicillary and carers allowance

hi,have child with cerebral palsy which was diagnoised in early january and was told at developmental checkup by doctor to apply for DCA and when i got letter to say they recieved my application to apply for carers allowance. got letter back from carers section to say it hadnt been approved because DCA had not been approved yet and if and when DCA is approved to send letter and pps no to them and they ll review my case. if i do get the DCA will the carers allowance be back dated to when i first applyed or can i apply for anything in the mean time. only working 14 hours a week cause daughter need lots of care. grateful for any help.

Not sure if your application would apply from the date of application or the date the DCA is awarded but you will need to keep in touch with Sw so that your application does not lapse. If you do not contact them within 3 months they will close your claim and you will have to make a new claim when when DCA comes through.

In the meantime drop them a note with PPS number on it letting them know that you are still awaiting a decision on DCA application and repeat this note if there is a long delay. Unfortunately it can take a long time for that decision to be finalised

Hi there,

From what i was told you can't apply for Carers Allowance until DCA is approved. My MIL got carers allowance which was backdated to her application for that so i would imagine the Carers Allowance will only pay out from when you officially apply for that after the DCA is approved. Have you had your meeting with the Area Medical Officer yet? I applied for DCA back in August 08 for my son who has Autism and only had our assessment in February. Was told the final decision was due to be made on February 28th but when i called DCA section this week they said the Medical Officer is on leave for two weeks so we might not hear anything back on the decision until he comes back to work. I know the DCA will be backdated to date our application is received and then we will have to apply for the Carers Allowance as my mum looks after my son Monday to Friday while i work so she should be entitled to it.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

I was granted a Domiciliary Allowance for my son very quickly last month and they backdated the money from July2008 as requested by the doctor that interviewed us for th DCA. My son is awaiting an assessment from autism services and at the mment has the diagnosis of moderate to severe communication, sensory and social delay. He is alot of care and I have taken a career break to care for him. As a result I have no income only whet my husband brings in.

I was then advised to apply for a carers allowance. According to the carers allowance info form social welfare. If you are granted a DCA and are then granted a carers allowance, the CA is back dated to the time DCA was awarded.

SW dont seem to want to know about a CA application unless you have been awarded a DCA.

I am just wondering now that I have the reems of relevant documentation sent to SW with my carers allowance application, how long will they take to contact me and make a decision. I applied 2 weeks ago.

Hope I have helped in some way!!

It normally depends on the area you live in , it can take 14 weeks from the time you apply for carers to be approve but whatever date is stamped on the application form is normally the date it is backdated until. You must have been accepted for domicillary in order to get Carer's but then you also get a respite payment of 1700 approx in June, you don't need to fil in any form, once approved you will get automatically.. Check citizens info. site for exact figure.

The only fustrating thing is if you want to go back to work when things calm down , you are only allowed work 15 hours! All jobs advertised on a part-time basis are 19.5.
If you take a job over 15 hours carer's stops.

Have you cut down on your working hours in order to be only working 14 hours per week or have you always worked 14 hours per week?
If it's the former then you're entitled to apply for Carer's Benefit (as opposed to Carer's Allowance). The difference is the benefit is NOT means tested whereas the allowance is.

Once your DCA is approved you will get Carer's Benefit with little difficulty.
HTH