WHAT HAPPENS TO ME ??????????????????

[g.herschel]

As you all may remember i was waiting for replies to e-mails / letters from various ministers ive now had 3 replies my main question was as a carer who is only in receipt of the carers allowance and no other benefit such as Income Support what will happen to me if / when the welfare reform green paper becomes law - ie working age carers on carers allowance & income support will move onto Job Seekers Allowance (£60 per week ) will i remain on the carers allowance (£50 per week )

The replies are the same they have said as a full time carer 24/7 i will not be requiered to seek employment therefore i will be classed as a full time carer

They have not said if the carers allowance will remain for carers like myself who do not get other benefits at all ( mainly because of private pension or part time work ) they also said carers who move onto J.S.A. will not have to find work what i also asked was will a carer who moves onto J.S.A. be better off as J.S.A. is higher than carers allowance they said the higher rate may reduce other benefits IAM STILL CONFUSED

ive decided no more letters its just a waste of time mind you i have replied to these 3

GEORGE========

[Myrtle]

I've had 3 replies on the same subject...............and a Green paper!

[smiler]

Maybe what they mean is if you come off one benefit to claim another which appears to be higher they will deduct it from other benefits you receive or any entitlements that are with one benefit but not the other you will lose. It is bad when even the ministers don't know what they're on about, or could it be that they don't want to put it in writing as when it is they could find it hard to deny

[charles47]

My own feelings on this are that the whole of the Green Paper was written before any consideration was given about carers. There is no way, if they had spent any real time on the subject, that they would have come up with only 5 paragraphs in such a large document. And so ill thought out that nobody knows what will happen to those on CA but without Income Support.

All I have heard from Green Papers and politicians is that the aim is to simplify the system by reducing the number and types of benefits. Looking at the Green Paper, the CA proposals are in the section covering this topic, and the stated intention is to get rid of Income Support. I can understand that (not that I agree with it). But there are no stated intentions about getting rid of CA - and yet there is no logical reason why CA should be mentioned in this section unless they were planning to get rid of it. But then there are many carers receiving CA - like George - who receive nothing else. Politicians seem to be under the impression that they will be on JSA too - but that cannot be correct because the only ones mentioned are those who also receive Income Support, meaning that CA has to be safe. The two are mutually exclusive.

Methinks a number of politicians and civil servants are sitting on their elbows...

[mark853468]

What baffles me is if they get rid of Income support, which is means tested, then what will all the other benefits have to go against, I have asked this question to a lot of different people, the answer from all is a big , it will be another big cock up by the govenment.

[Lazydaisy]

I have heard from my MP this morning, who wrote to James Purnell, but whose letter was answered by Stephen Timms.

Nothing more than the usual pat on the head for Carers,and saying they do not want Carers to miss out on life opportunities. THey want to make it easier for Carers to combine caring with work.

[Myrtle]

Must be the same one I got too then

[Lazydaisy]

Myrtle-look one of the other threads,"We are in this together".I have just noticed that the reply trek received,is word for word the same as the one I have received,probably you too then.

Just shows how little respect we hold in Society.A big issue such as this, and they send out a standard letter.

[Myrtle]

yes...........and yes

[g.herschel]

In the letters ive just received they say as iam a full time carer 24/7 who receives only the carers allowance i waill "stay " on carers allowance but at what rate as far as iam concerned if al other carers go onto J.S.A at just over £60 iam being discriminated against because i am not on other benefitrs which proves once and for all that my private occupational pension is being used to subsidise the old dolls care my private pension should be disregarded as should carers who are in receipt of the O.A.P. it`s an easy thing to do as they are used to claimants on war related pensions having them disregarded so why not carers on state pension or private pension .

GEORGE=======