New vaccine

[Beckett]

18 minutes ago, ann141 said:

That would be great for my twin sister to know too.We both turn 65 at the beginning of march and although I have had my jab because I am in the shielded group, my twin is worried she might get missed

Hi Ann. I'll let you know as much as I can on Friday. My bet is that she automatically moves into the next group as her age changes. She shouldn't be missed but it might be worth her while contacting her surgery to ask them which groups they are currently calling. There seems to be so much disparity across the country. Jane.x

[ann141]

1 minute ago, Beckett said:

Hi Ann. I'll let you know as much as I can on Friday. My bet is that she automatically moves into the next group as her age changes. She shouldn't be missed but it might be worth her while contacting her surgery to ask them which groups they are currently calling. There seems to be so much disparity across the country. Jane.x

Thanks

[grapau27]

22 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Carers allowance is not based on savings but is means tested because if you have more than £128 earnings each week which would include your pension you would not qualify.

To clarify.

Private or occupational pensions are not included in the under £128 earnings each week to claim carers allowance

State benefits,state pensions or work income under £128 a week is okay but £128 and over means you do not qualify for carers allowance.

Graham.

 

 

[Beckett]

16 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Talking of famous people mucking in, the comedian Jason Manford has been driving people to vaccines. Last year he drove for Asda deliveries too!

 

16 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Talking of famous people mucking in, the comedian Jason Manford has been driving people to vaccines. Last year he drove for Asda deliveries too!

I think I saw him driving for Asda but didn't know he was driving people to vaccines. Good man Jason. J.x

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

To clarify.

Private or occupational pensions are not included in the under £128 earnings each week to claim carers allowance

State benefits,state pensions or work income under £128 a week is okay but £128 and over means you do not qualify for carers allowance.

Graham.

 

 

Sorry Graham, but I don’t think that clarifies it! Pension income, whether private or state has nothing whatsoever to do with the £128 limit. The £128 only applies to ‘earned income’. That means income from employment or self employment. So if you are working and earning more than £128 you cannot claim Carers Allowance. Once you reach your state retirement age, if your state pension is more than £67.25 a week you also cannot claim Carers Allowance. If you are below state pension age, you have to have an ‘earned income’ of less than £128 to qualify. However, private and occupational pensions do not count as ‘earned income’ and there is no limit as to how much pension income you can have but still qualify for Carers Allowance. The allowance is taxed though, in that your personal allowance is reduced by the same amount. Sorry to have to correct your posts, but I think it’s important not to mislead those who might be eligible but don’t realise that they are. Just trying to help! 

[Harry Peterson]

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

To clarify.

Private or occupational pensions are not included in the under £128 earnings each week to claim carers allowance

State benefits,state pensions or work income under £128 a week is okay but £128 and over means you do not qualify for carers allowance.

Graham.

 

 

Not my field at all, but doesn't this rule out large numbers of people, as pensioners?

 

"If you get State Pension

You cannot get the full amount of both Carer’s Allowance and your State Pension at the same time.

If your pension is £67.25 a week or more, you will not get a Carer’s Allowance payment.

 

If your pension is less than £67.25 a week, you’ll get a Carer’s Allowance payment to make up the difference."

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Not my field at all, but doesn't this rule out large numbers of people, as pensioners?

 

"If you get State Pension

You cannot get the full amount of both Carer’s Allowance and your State Pension at the same time.

If your pension is £67.25 a week or more, you will not get a Carer’s Allowance payment.

 

If your pension is less than £67.25 a week, you’ll get a Carer’s Allowance payment to make up the difference."

Harry - we posted at the same time. Your info is correct and my post (the one before yours) explains in more detail. 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Me again John! You are obviously referring to the Motability scheme. Again, just to clarify, there is no free car. You have to surrender around £10k in tax free benefits over every 3 years of the lease plus, if you want a decent car, pay an ‘advance payment’ of up to £4k on top of that. So it’s far from free. It’s a shame that Pauline missed out on eligibility due to age, but it’s interesting that two out of every three people who are eligible to join the Motability scheme choose not to. If it was ‘free’ I’m sure that the take up would be 100%!

Agree it's not totally free, but there is no car tax, insurance, service or repair costs. So only fuel is required, 

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Agree it's not totally free, but there is no car tax, insurance, service or repair costs. So only fuel is required, 

Thats correct John but as you can see from the figures I quoted, that comes at a cost. Minimum £10k in sacrificed benefits even if you are happy with a little runabout. As a point of interest, I bought a private car at around the same time as my wife got a new Motability car. Both were around the same retail price. When I sold my car I worked out the whole life costs (depreciation, servicing, tyres, insurance, road tax etc) and, much to my surprise, my private car worked out cheaper to run over the 3 years than my wife’s Motability car had cost. Quite a lot of people are leaving the Motability scheme as the ‘advance payments’ (up front costs) have been going up and the choice of cars has been reduced by 60% in recent years. 

[kalos]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

It’s a minefield Kalos and very few people understand it, so you are far from alone. Other than Family Allowance, which we lost when it became means tested, neither my wife nor I had claimed a penny in benefits throughout our entire lives. However, when my wife’s disability started to really impact on her life and her ability to work, I did a lot of research and found that whilst most things were unavailable to her (due to my income) some things were. Initially it was DLA, subsequently replaced by PIP.
 

As you will know, the transition to PIP has been a major challenge for many. Undoubtedly there was abuse with the old system and it needed overhauling, but the PIP application system is unbelievably complicated and will no doubt put many off claiming for it or, at best, cause them to end up with a poor result. I spent every evening for a week preparing my wife’s PIP application, having done a lot of research, and it paid off. She was initially given a 3 year award, to be reviewed after around 2 and a half years, which she was relieved with. However, we asked for a Mandatory Reconsideration on the grounds that her condition could only be worse after that time and that it seemed unreasonable to have to go through all of that hassle again so soon. They changed it to an indefinite award with the earliest review (if at all) in 10 years time. Perseverance pays. 

Yes it is a bit complex 

I had some fantastic help and glad I did, same as you I have worked and claimed "Nowt"

as they say in these parts, I even thought I did not need this "pip" I had never heard of but

was put right  with sound medical advice as well . I also got   an indefinite award same as

your good wife. A funny one was at Christmas ,when I thought my wife and I had been overpaid Turns out we were entitled to this £10 each . You have put some great advice in the posts above .I hope some readers find it of use . Like you say preparation is the best way forward as it's no good thinking I wish I had told them about something you forgot.

I found this test handy https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/pip-test

and a  lot more handy advice 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by kalos

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Thats correct John but as you can see from the figures I quoted, that comes at a cost. Minimum £10k in sacrificed benefits even if you are happy with a little runabout. As a point of interest, I bought a private car at around the same time as my wife got a new Motability car. Both were around the same retail price. When I sold my car I worked out the whole life costs (depreciation, servicing, tyres, insurance, road tax etc) and, much to my surprise, my private car worked out cheaper to run over the 3 years than my wife’s Motability car had cost. Quite a lot of people are leaving the Motability scheme as the ‘advance payments’ (up front costs) have been going up and the choice of cars has been reduced by 60% in recent years. 

Thank you for the extra information, I already feel less aggrieved than hitherto, especially as I manage to make my cars last much longer than 3 years.

[Selbourne]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

Thank you for the extra information, I already feel less aggrieved than hitherto, especially as I manage to make my cars last much longer than 3 years.

I thought that might make you feel better John. Happy to help 😉 

 

I quite understand people feeling aggrieved when they don’t qualify due to the age of onset of disability but, equally, my wife would hand back her Motability car and PIP in a heartbeat if it meant that she wouldn’t have been struck down with a progressive disability from her 30’s. As we both know full well John, neither is a good position to be in. 

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

 

Just had the vaccine hub ring me and told me where I was going for my jab on Friday a mile away has got a delivery issue and cannot do it there but can do it at another medical centre a ten minute drive in the opposite direction -same day -same time  No Probs .

 

 

 

As long as you get your armful of the good stuff that's all that matters.

Avril

[grapau27]

43 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Sorry Graham, but I don’t think that clarifies it! Pension income, whether private or state has nothing whatsoever to do with the £128 limit. The £128 only applies to ‘earned income’. That means income from employment or self employment. So if you are working and earning more than £128 you cannot claim Carers Allowance. Once you reach your state retirement age, if your state pension is more than £67.25 a week you also cannot claim Carers Allowance. If you are below state pension age, you have to have an ‘earned income’ of less than £128 to qualify. However, private and occupational pensions do not count as ‘earned income’ and there is no limit as to how much pension income you can have but still qualify for Carers Allowance. The allowance is taxed though, in that your personal allowance is reduced by the same amount. Sorry to have to correct your posts, but I think it’s important not to mislead those who might be eligible but don’t realise that they are. Just trying to help! 

Thanks Selbourne.

The best thing for anyone who can claim they should check the gov site.

I screenshot some of the gov site on here for carers eligibility.

The £128 is earned income limit for claiming carers allowance.

Anyone on Universal credit need to check with the gov site or their benefits advisor.

 

[kalos]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I thought that might make you feel better John. Happy to help 😉 

 

I quite understand people feeling aggrieved when they don’t qualify due to the age of onset of disability but, equally, my wife would hand back her Motability car and PIP in a heartbeat if it meant that she wouldn’t have been struck down with a progressive disability from her 30’s. As we both know full well John, neither is a good position to be in. 

 

Heart failure for sale , Willing to swap for PIP & Blue Badge in return for good health .

Same here No car (Mobility) Happy with what we own .

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I thought that might make you feel better John. Happy to help 😉 

 

I quite understand people feeling aggrieved when they don’t qualify due to the age of onset of disability but, equally, my wife would hand back her Motability car and PIP in a heartbeat if it meant that she wouldn’t have been struck down with a progressive disability from her 30’s. As we both know full well John, neither is a good position to be in. 

Health is something we take for granted until illness affects us.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife's illness Selbourne.

Graham.

[grapau27]

25 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Heart failure for sale , Willing to swap for PIP & Blue Badge in return for good health .

Same here No car (Mobility) Happy with what we own .

We all take our good health for granted Kalos and don't realise this until health issues hit us.

You seem  like a great bloke and I'm so sorry that heart failure affected you.

I am lucky because my heart was not damaged by my mild heart attack but it was a timely reminder to me.

Take care mate.

Graham.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by grapau27

[wowzz]

Doesn't all of the above show how complex and unwieldy the whole benefits system is? 

I feel so sorry for those that have to negotiate the DHSS system, which seems to be deliberately complex, often when those in most need,  are at their most vulnerable.

  

[Eddie99]

If all the above, together with the ravages of a pandemic, don’t show that we should be investigating, perfecting and instituting a Universal Basic Income system, I don’t know what does

Finland appears to be going down this path and I think I’ve read of others considering it

Like a “negative income tax”, every adult is entitled to a basic sum - enough to live on.  The vast majority of the population never even see the amount, because it’s removed through income tax.  It’s a safety net.  It would really come into its own in the current situation.  I’ve probably not described it very well. It’s an interesting topic - worth looking up if it’s tweaked your interest

[Selbourne]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Doesn't all of the above show how complex and unwieldy the whole benefits system is? 

I feel so sorry for those that have to negotiate the DHSS system, which seems to be deliberately complex, often when those in most need,  are at their most vulnerable.

  

So true Wowzz and that’s not a political point as it has always been the case. As I said, it took me a week to research and compile my wife’s PIP application and I am used to compiling and reviewing things such as business plans and business cases! When we went for my wife’s physical assessment we were sat in a waiting room with other applicants and, without wishing to sound judgemental, by overhearing some of their conversations we both said afterwards that unless some of those applicants had received professional help with their written applications they wouldn’t have a hope. 
 

We are fortunate that our financial situation means that the payments are just a tiny supplement to our income, even in retirement, but as we have both paid in to the system (in my case substantially) over many decades, partly in order to fund benefits for many others, I felt strongly that as my wife had become severely disabled she should be able to get something back and should not be penalised because of my income. Even though my wife is very bright and has held down responsible jobs, she was phased by the application process and, as a result, wouldn’t have applied had I not done most of it for her. On the other hand, for many people these payments can be life savers and whilst there are organisations out there that offer help, the quality of that help isn’t always great and you have to know where to go to seek it. The benefits system needed overhauling, as there were far too many people claiming benefits who shouldn’t have been, but it has gone a bit too far the other way now and I know of people who would be entitled to support but find the application process too overwhelming. 

[Harry Peterson]

32 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

The benefits system needed overhauling, as there were far too many people claiming benefits who shouldn’t have been, but it has gone a bit too far the other way now and I know of people who would be entitled to support but find the application process too overwhelming. 

And there are still those who are fully entitled, but refuse to claim because they see it as somehow morally wrong.

 

We had a gardener for some years. Lovely chap, knew him very well. Not a lot of income in retirement. Took him through all the figures for Pension Credit, more or less filled the form in for him, but even though he was fully entitled to quite a large additional weekly payment he just wouldn’t claim.  Didn’t think it was right.

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

And there are still those who are fully entitled, but refuse to claim because they see it as somehow morally wrong.

 

We had a gardener for some years. Lovely chap, knew him very well. Not a lot of income in retirement. Took him through all the figures for Pension Credit, more or less filled the form in for him, but even though he was fully entitled to quite a large additional weekly payment he just wouldn’t claim.  Didn’t think it was right.

I guess it’s a bit like those who won’t be vaccinated. You can lead a horse to water............

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

If all the above, together with the ravages of a pandemic, don’t show that we should be investigating, perfecting and instituting a Universal Basic Income system, I don’t know what does

Finland appears to be going down this path and I think I’ve read of others considering it

Like a “negative income tax”, every adult is entitled to a basic sum - enough to live on.  The vast majority of the population never even see the amount, because it’s removed through income tax.  It’s a safety net.  It would really come into its own in the current situation.  I’ve probably not described it very well. It’s an interesting topic - worth looking up if it’s tweaked your interest

There certainly needs to be serious thought given to the basic living wage as well as the entire social care system.  There needs to be a centrally funded system put in place, maybe as regards social care a similar funding system to that now operated in Germany.

As for a basic living wage, this needs to be managed so that those in employment benefit more than those out of work.  We must never get back to the welfare system of the last labour govt, where some unemployed had a higher income than the lowest paid workers.

[jeanlyon]

As a  74 year old I am lucky to be in good health (so far), but I really don't like this drug society that we live in.  To explain, I am on no medication at all.  2 years ago I had a 5 year check up with the doc.  Bloods, urine, cholesterol etc etc.  I also have low BP.  Went back to get the results.  all perfect, no history of heart or stroke in family, liver fine, kidneys fine.  Doc then says "of course you are at 10% on the Q risk register, so at this time we would be recommending a statin".  I said carefully "How many people over 70 are not 10% on the Q Risk register?"  she looked at me and said "I take it you don't want a statin then"?     damn right I don't.

 

This doling out of pills to people who don't need them is just plain wrong in my opinion.

 

 

[Son of Anarchy]

26 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

As a  74 year old I am lucky to be in good health (so far), but I really don't like this drug society that we live in.  To explain, I am on no medication at all.  2 years ago I had a 5 year check up with the doc.  Bloods, urine, cholesterol etc etc.  I also have low BP.  Went back to get the results.  all perfect, no history of heart or stroke in family, liver fine, kidneys fine.  Doc then says "of course you are at 10% on the Q risk register, so at this time we would be recommending a statin".  I said carefully "How many people over 70 are not 10% on the Q Risk register?"  she looked at me and said "I take it you don't want a statin then"?     damn right I don't.

 

This doling out of pills to people who don't need them is just plain wrong in my opinion.

 

 

A few years ago I was at the Drs for a meds review.  After we'd sorted out my 4 meds for 3 things, I mentioned that Mum, about 90 at that time, was taking only 1 med - a laxative. 

 

Dr said: "She's lucky"

I said: "She lives in care home, she's got dementia"

Dr replied: "We're all living too long".

 

Sounds a bit harsh in the cold light of day in black and white on a screen, but it wasn't meant or taken in that way.  My Dr is a great guy, and has been really great with referrals where appropriate, including for me to get a consultation via Benenden last year so as not to burden the NHS.