State Benefits & a Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

sea2summit

Hi,

My father received a terminal cancer diagnosis and I am looking for information on what state benefits can be claimed to help manage bills / rent / general expenses. He is a 65 year old legally separated man who lives on his own.

From my research, we can apply for Illness Benefit, Disability Allowance and Invalidity Pension as he will never return to employment.

Can we claim all 3 at the same time? Are there other payments / benefits we are unaware of to help with finances?

Thanks

banie01

I'm sorry to hear your father's diagnosis and predicament.

You can't claim all payments at the same time, it's 1 payment active per claimant.

Now if your father is working or was until 2019? His 1st port of call IMO is to claim illness benefit, this will be awarded quite quickly and will provide an ongoing payment whilst other grants and entitlements are explored. There is a terminal illness forum https://www.boards.ie/categories/terminal-illness where people with more experience may be able to offer more advice.

I'd also recommend contact with the Irish Cancer Society, your Dad's oncology team should have a social worker, and also your local hospice can offer a better steer on help too.

Take full advantage of all support structures and ensure that you and your father have as much help as can be gained.

Cherry Blossom

I sorry to hear of your fathers diagnosis. You can only be in reciept of one social welfare payment at a time but there are other add ons available. If he applies for DA he would also be entitled to free travel, living alone allowance, household benefits package and possibly fuel allowance. I’m not sure if these add ons are available with the other two payments, you would need to check online. For DA he is allowed to own his own home and the first €50,000 of savings are not taken into account as means. If he has more than this or has some other income he may be better off on IB or IP which are based on his prsi contributions. He should apply for Illness Benefit first in any case and then seek advice from citizens advice on what he should apply for longer term. They will advised what is best for his particular set of circumstances.

ari101

Sorry for this news OP, in addition to the above advice re contacting a social worker/citizens advice/irish cancer society to make sure you avail of all the entitlements.

I would suggest a Medical Card application if he does not already hold one. He may have to apply on a discretionary, or even possibly can on an emergency basis, if he does not pass the standard means test, but should definitely be awarded one with a terminal diagnosis. If one isn't already held, and you need to wait on processing of a discretionary application (no idea how long they take I'm afraid), it may be worth applying for a Drugs Payment Scheme card in the mean time to limit monthly prescription costs if these are going to be high (current limit EUR114/mth).

At 65 the Household Benefits Package to assist with electricity/tv licence is not available on Illness Benefit only afaik, but may be available with other payments, however once 66 this should no longer be an issue as he can transition to an OAP most likely? If he is nearing 66 it is recommended to apply for OAP 3 months in advance to ensure no delay in getting the payment and then he can look to apply for means tested Benefits Package.

mystic

Sorry for your news. He should apply for Invalidity Pension immediately. It's paid at a higher rate than IB or DA. He should qualify for Living Alone Increase and Household Benefits Package. This involves ticking the relevant boxes on the Invalidity Pension form. Form available for download at the bottom of this link.

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/d148b9-invalidity-pension/

Invalidity Pension applications are fast tracked for people with a terminal illness/diagnosis.

Wishing you all the best.