FAQ - Money

No. As a sibling, you have no obligation to pay for your sister’s care. The local authority has a duty to assess your sister’s care needs, and to put support in place if she is eligible to receive it. They will only assess her finances – not yours.

It depends on where your brother lives and how much he has in savings. Some benefits (such as Universal Credit) are means-tested and capital such as savings and property will be taken into account alongside income. Other benefits (such as PIP) are not means-tested. Use a benefits calculator to gauge how your brother’s savings may affect what benefits he can claim.

Care and support from the local authority is means-tested. The local authority can challenge and reclaim money from a person, if they have concerns that someone has intentionally decreased their overall assets to avoid paying for their care (e.g. by transferring their savings to another person).

• England – the government sets different financial thresholds, to determine whether a person will pay towards their care or not. These are called the ‘upper capital limit’ and the ‘lower capital limit’. If someone has less than the lower capital limit in savings, they will not pay towards their care. If they have between the lower and upper limit, then they will need to contribute a certain amount (and how much they pay will be determined by a financial assessment). If they have more than the capital limit, then they will have to fund the full cost of their care. To find out the current upper and lower capital limits as set by the government, visit www.gov.uk
• Wales – charges vary between local authorities and they must publish information about their charging procedure. Most people will be expected to pay something towards the cost of their care.
• Scotland – charges vary between local authorities. Most people will be expected to pay something towards the cost of their care (personal care for over 65s is free). The value of your home is not counted as capital.

Northern Ireland – charges vary between Health and Social Care Trusts. Care for over 75s is free.

In England and Wales, a personal budget is an amount of money that is provided by your local authority to meet your disabled brother or sister’s needs. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, a personal budget is referred to as self-directed support.

The amount of money is specific to the individual based on their needs at the time of their care needs assessment – it is not dependent on their diagnosis. However, the local authority should be able to give you a rough idea of what your brother or sister may be entitled to (an indicative budget).

These are the main ways that your brother or sister’s budget could be received and managed:

1. The local authority holds the budget and arranges and pays for the care and support services for your brother or sister.
   2. You or another family member receives a Direct Payment and you arrange and pay for the care and support for your brother or sister. Your brother or sister will need a specific bank account for this that you have legal permission to manage. In some local authorities you can use a third party to receive and manage the payments on your brother or sister’s behalf.
   3. A mixed budget – the local authority keeps some of the budget and arranges some services; you receive some budget as a Direct Payment and arrange some of the care and support for your brother or sister.

You and your brother or sister should be involved in decisions about how the budget is spent.

In England, some people may also be identified as having health care needs as well as social care needs. They may receive a personal health budget, a personal social care budget (as described above) or a combination of the two. Personal health budgets are not available in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

No, receiving direct payments will not affect the benefits your sister is entitled to. Direct Payments are an agreed amount of money given directly to your sister (or nominated person) from her personal budget. The aim of Direct Payments is to give people more choice over the support they receive – for example, by employing their own support workers – rather than the local authority arranging and paying for this directly.  The money received does not count as income and does not affect other benefits. It is solely to be spent on the agreed care and support needs (e.g. a support worker), so your sister may need to keep receipts to show how the money has been spent.

Your mum is currently classed as an employer. She has to fulfil her responsibilities as an employer including paying salaries and pensions, keeping track of hours worked, and doing a staff rota if more than one person is employed. Here are some options:

• Your mum can continue with the role and use a local payroll service to do the staff salary payments and related employment paperwork. This is still a large task and if your mum is finding it harder to manage paperwork as time goes on, we wouldn’t recommend this
• You can take on the role of being the nominated person to receive and manage the direct payments as well as the employer role
• Your sister’s direct payments can be used to get care and support through an agency so that the agency takes on the employer role
• Your sister can have her budget held by the local authority and they can arrange and pay for your sister’s care and support

There are pros and cons for each of these and as a family you’ll need to discuss what’s best for your sister versus how manageable each option is for you and your mum. Find out more about direct payments from Carers UK.

There are many different decisions involved in managing money. It may be that your sister is able to make some decisions (such as buying a sandwich when she is hungry) but need support with others (such as spending or investing a large amount of money). Your sister’s ability to make these decisions is referred to as her mental capacity. Read more about this in our guide on decision-making.

If you want to help your sister manage her benefits, then you can become her appointee. You apply to become an appointee through the Department of Work and Pensions, and there is no cost to this. Being an appointee doesn’t cover savings or managing property – for this you would need a different permission. Visit www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits for more information and to apply to become an appointee.

If you want to help your sister with bigger financial decisions, like managing savings or property, then you will need to apply for permission to do this. The process and the cost of this varies depending on which country you live in:

• In England and Wales, this is called power of attorney or deputyship
• In Scotland, this is called continuing power of attorney or guardianship
• In Northern Ireland, this is called enduring power of attorney or controllership

Find out more:

• Sibs guide to managing money (read pages 4-6 for an overview of the financial permissions needed to manage someone’s finances)
• Sibs guide to decision-making (read page 4 for an overview of mental capacity)

Download both guides here

If your brother has the ability to understand what is involved with having a bank account in his own name, then yes, he can open and use a bank account. Banks can offer support with this by providing information in an accessible format, providing a chip and signature card (e.g. if a person has difficulty remembering a PIN number) and allowing a person to bank in a branch rather than only online or by telephone. It may also support your brother to have a different type of account, for example one in which he cannot become overdrawn.

What your sister is entitled to will depend on her needs, income and savings. Your sister needs to be assessed for financial support and you can get more information by contacting Adult Social Care in your sister’s local authority. You can get detailed information on different types of benefits, who is eligible and how to apply from Disability Rights UK. You can also use an online benefit calculator to get an estimate of what your sister could be entitled to.

If your sister’s physical abilities have deteriorated significantly, it would be helpful to have her needs re-assessed by the local authority as this may change what personal budget is available to her. Contact the local authority to request a re-assessment of her needs – explain specifically what has changed and how it now affects your sister on a day-to-day basis.

Find out more

By car

• The Motability scheme leases cars, scooters or powered wheelchairs to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain benefits
• You may be eligible for a reduction or an exemption from vehicle tax – it is dependent on the level of disability and circumstances
• Blue Badge parking scheme – Displaying the blue badge in your car windscreen shows that the driver or a passenger has a disability. It allows you to park in disabled parking spaces, which are closer to shops and facilities. You do not need to be a wheelchair user.
  • England and Wales
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland

By bus

• Some local authorities offer concessionary bus travel. Some offer alternative schemes to people who may have difficulty accessing a bus or train, such as ‘dial-a-ride’ – an accessible, pre-booked community minibus.
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland

By train

• Concessionary rail travel across the UK
• Passenger Assist is a service you can book, to help you at stations and on the train. This might be with carrying bags, finding your seat or finding your way to the platform. Support is dependent on the area and often needs to be booked 24 hours in advance
  

Your brother may be eligible for a specific grant from the local authority. What is available will depend on which of the UK countries he lives in and what his needs are.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can apply to the local authority for a disabled facilities grant. In Scotland, The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 allows local authorities to provide a grant for home adaptations required due to disability. Contact your local authority to find out what may be available to your brother. Read more about housing grants on the Disability Rights UK website here.

If you haven’t already, see if you sister is eligible for a medical exemption certificate. These are given to people with certain ongoing health conditions and it means your sister would receive her NHS prescriptions for free. It’s also worth checking if your sister is entitled to an NHS tax credit exemption certificate. Some people on a low income and in receipt of certain benefits may be eligible for this certificate. It entitles the person to free prescriptions, dental treatment, sight tests and the cost of travel to receive NHS treatment. If your sister isn’t eligible for this, try the NHS low income scheme, which will help with these costs. A final alternative, if your sister is not eligible for any of the above, would be to consider using a Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC). You pay a set amount upfront for 3 or 12 months, and receive the certificate. The certificate then covers the cost of your medications in that time. It’s cost effective if your sister has 2 or more regular prescriptions.

You might be able to claim Carer’s Allowance if you’re looking after your brother or sister for 35 hours a week or more. It’s not means-tested but there are limits on the amount of hours you can work in the week. You don’t have to live with your brother/sister to be claiming Carer’s Allowance. If someone else (such as a parent) also cares for your brother/sister, then only one of you can claim Carer’s Allowance.

Carer’s Credit may be helpful if you aren’t eligible to receive Carer’s Allowance and spend 20 hours a week or more caring for your disabled brother. Carer’s Credit helps to fill in the gaps in your National Insurance contributions. Whilst this isn’t direct financial support, receiving credits may help you in future if you apply for National Insurance based benefits yourself, or State Pension.

Use the Turn2Us benefits calculator to make sure you are claiming all the benefits that you are entitled to. It’s advisable to do this once a year, as benefit guidelines do change or your circumstances might have changed. Find out more about Carers Allowance from Carers UK here.

There are numerous charitable funds that award grants to individuals and families meeting their criteria. Some may be focused on certain professions, location, age or disability and others may be more general, such as families in financial hardship. Use the grant search tool at Turn2Us.

Try and find out more information about the situation. Is there someone else you can speak to within your brother’s local community who supports him? They may have similar concerns to you and it can help to share and discuss these.

Take notes on the dates and times of incidents, who was involved and what happened. Keep a record of your brother’s mood or any changes in behaviour that concern you too. This may help you build a case if you need to and also firm up your evidence if you are worried about whether your concerns are real or not.

Being pressured to hand over money is financial abuse. This is a safeguarding concern and needs to be reported to the local authority. Read more about taking action on safeguarding concerns here.

It might be that your sister has very little spending money, despite being in receipt of all benefits she is entitled to. Living in a residential home changes the way a person receives their benefits. Some benefits they receive may go directly to the residential home, in part or in full, to pay for their care. What they may be left with is called their Personal Expenses Allowance. The process of receiving benefits while in residential care can be complicated and can vary between different local authorities. You need to contact the local authority where your sister lives for more information.

There is a way that you can support her with managing what spending money she does have – you can become an appointee. An appointee is someone who manages a person’s benefits on their behalf.

• Check if your university offers grants or bursaries to students who are carers (they may also be able to offer other support e.g. with workload and deadlines)
• Use the grant search tool at Turn2Us, as some funds may be applicable to your caring situation, your course or where you’re from or grew up
  

TV licence

If your brother or sister is registered blind or severely sight impaired, then they can claim 50% off the household TV licence.

Council tax and rates

Some local authorities offer a reduction to people with disabilities. Find out more here:

• England and Wales
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland

Find out more

• Carers First – Discounts for carers
• Money Saving Expert – 30+ money saving tips for disabled people