Hello, I have been a nocturnal hd patient now for about 3 years and have decided that it is time to retire and claim the pension. I am also applying for the carers pension for my wife. I know some of you get both, but the initial response from centre lonk is not good. If you had a win with centrelink, how did you do it? The form for the dr to complete has no provision for home hd.
Thanks Peter
Hi Peter
I know several people who have both disability and carers payments from Centrelink. You just need to document what you and your wife have to do in a day involving your treatment and how much time it takes out of your day. You will be assessed by their doctor but most of them know only about in centre patients and are quite admiring of the effort required for home treatments. There appears to be a lot of paper work and you need to be persistent.
The payments are not what you would call generous and are by no means a “living wage”, but the lower costs for pharmecuticals, car rego, rates, power etc are useful.
All the best 8)
I am on a disability pension and it took me two lots of applications before they gave me the pension. Which was rediculous because they put me on the dole, and I had to go to the GP every fortnight to get a certificate to say I wasnt well enough to work.
Be persistant, and make sure you dont hold back when filling out the forms.
What I suggest you do is apply for both the carer payment and the carer allowance. You wont need to apply for the disability pension for yourself if you are caring for your wife.
If you get knocked back the first time, appeal it straight away.
A few things you may be entitled too which they dont always tell you about is phone allowance and rent assistance. You can also get rebates for electricity and water - but you would have to check with your HD unit to see if your area does this.
If you need any help with the forms, give us a bell.
How did you go with the pension? Above post is mine…sorry about that