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I went through the exact same scenario back in March when my fiance moved in and became my full time carer. Your DLA will still be paid, and as you say, has nothing to do with your Income Support claim.
They continued to pay ours and then adjusted it later to a much lower amount to take into consideration that they had paid us while sorting this out, this was because I told them that if they ceased payments, it would be causing me undue hardship, they said they do not normally stop payments in these cases. You should be paid tomorrow, though how much will depend on what stage your new application is at.
I was paid for five weeks at my previous rate, which took into account a severe disability premium. As we were also claiming Carer's Allowance (which your partner is entitled to) they had to wait until that was sorted out as you cannot get the full entitlement of both carers allowance and income support. However, although part of one cancels out part of the other, they always work it so that you get the higher rates of both, so you will get an amount for inome support, less the amount you get for carers allowance. To be honest, it doesn't make that much difference which way round you do it. If you are claiming CA, they may be waiting for information. If you are not, a week and a half is nothing to these guys. You will need to keep on to them on at least a weekly basis, and do not be surprised if you get several different stories each time you call. However, if you keep your calm and are very nice to them, they will sort it out as quickly as possible. Chances are that your form has not even reached the right department yet, but you should still get paid, possibly even at your old rate, and an adjustment may be made later on, so if it is possible, try and keep a little money by as you could be getting a lot less in a few weeks than you were. If you call them tomorrow, they should be able to tell you what you will get.
If you cannot get them to tell you what you will receive, speak to the Income Maximisation Team at your local Citizens Advice bureau, they are really clued up on these things.
It will be around four to six weeks before this is all sorted out properly and you will receive loads of conflicting letters in the post, some telling you that you are not entitled to anything. Most of these letters are computer generated every time someone makes a note on your records, but each time you get one, call them and check. You will need to keep on top of this, as I said, and be prepared to call them regularly to chase things up, but you should be paid in the meantime, as it is not a new claim, but just a change of information. Your DLA is probably already in your account, and your income support is probably there as well. Either contact your bank if you have telephone banking or ask if your fiancee can go to the cashpoint to get a mini statement, if not, get one tomorrow morning, but I bet you will be paid. Hope it all works out okay. |
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