Hi all newbie Abi caring for my lovely hubby

[Guest]

Hi all,

I'm Abi, 25yrs old from Cardiff. Currently new to this. Caring full-time for my husband who's 24 and chronically ill having type 1 diabetes and recently he's just come out of hospital due to serious diabetic attack.
We trying to apply for DLA anyone have any tips or advice? I'm also wondering about applying for Carers Allowance as I feel I spend all my time caring for hubby, anyone applied recently successfully?
Take care all

[Tracey]

Hi Abi.

Welcome to the site.
Those forms are a nightmare to fill out but good luck with it.
Its been a couple of years since i filled mine out for my son but i know the questions are very repetitive.

Good luck.

Tracey x

[Myrtle]

Hi Abi and welcome
Forms are a nightmare but well worth doing

[mr turk]

hi abi wellcome it is a nightmare filling the forms if you have a welfare rights local to you could try there or if you have a carers center send me a message if you need to i will try to help you

[Nilla]

Welcome Abi the forms are a nightmare but if your husband gets middle or high rate dla awared you ca apply for Carers allowance as long as you dont earn over a certain amount per week, I think its approx £95 a week now

[BertieBear]

Hi Abi, I'm in Torfarn (North of Newport) and 25, caring for my wife who's 24 small world huh?

As for DLA forms you need to put things into ways that they can understand, which unfortunately means explaining everything in detail but it's so they can understand as they're stuck in an office somewhere. For us we had to write things in as if it is her worst day, because if we explained how she is on better days, they assume she's like that all the time You could speak to the Citizens Advice Bureau or Benefits And Work have good guides too.
As for Carer's Allowance, I think you can only get that if your husband's getting DLA. This is how things stood when I applied, though they may be different under the new changes.

Feel free to PM me. Partially 'cause we're local-ish, partially if you want more detail on form filling in (I'm no expert, but I've had some experience )
BB

[no1mum]

Hi Abi and a warm welcome to the forum.

Karen

[Deborah Gordon]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

In regards to dla applications the first person to look at your form doesn't even look at what you've written. They simply 'score' you points according to the number of times you say your health problem or disability affects you. Some offices will deny this but I have inside knowledge of the system and honestly the first person won't be looking in detail at your claim.

Having said that you must write in what things are like on your husbands worst day. As soon as you give them a glimmer that some days can be ok they write you off as fit and healthy! Never mind that nobody is going to employ you when you have an unstable health condition that means you are unreliable for work and quite possibly a danger in the workplace!

The forms are lenghty and repetative. Take your time to read it through and its sometimes worth drafting a rough outline of what you want to put in the boxes on a seperate sheet first. Be consistent. The reason they ask you very similar questions in different ways is to catch you out!

I sound like such a cynic... or a cheat! I'm not honestly. I've just been going through this for so many years I've become accustomed to their game plan! If you can get the support of your GP or specialist that will help and do put in all the detail you can. While the first person may only score you on a check box system the detail will really matter if you end up having to ask them to look at it again or appeal the decision.

Best of luck with it!

Debbie