Mum fell badly on the ice, what is she entitled to?

[WhiteGiant]

Hey all.

On Monday my mum was walking home from work and she fell on the ice very badly.

Two breaks in the right ankle, one break in the right wrist, one dislocation in the right elbow, and one dislocation in the right knee.

She's in hospital right now on heavy meds, to the point where she makes little sense on the phone. I can't afford to go and visit her at the mo, hopefully I'll be able to save some cash and blag some time off work soon.

What I'm wondering is, what is she entitled to benefits wise? She works full-time for WH Smith, lives in a housing association house (http://www.calicohousing.co.uk/), and is poorer than I am.

She has nothing paid for by the council (rent & rates etc.), despite the fact she earns a pittance, and only gets about £12 per month working tax credits.

Her sister and mother are with her at the mo, but I'm trying to help by finding out what she is entitled to - all the people on her street don't work, have cars, and go on holiday twice a year - yet my mum struggles to buy food each month because she actually works. All the tax and NI she has paid through her life should come to something?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

[golwg]

Get in touch with Citizens advice and the benefits people for a start. What is the sick pay like for WH Smith?

[circuitmonkey]

Really not sure what's she's entitled to benifit wise, but she gets my heart felt sympathy and hope she makes a speedy recovery!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I hope your mum gets better too!!

Sorry,I could not be more useful in this case!!

[dave87]

What does her employment contract say? If she's off work she should get some form of sick pay. If not, she may be entitled to statutory sick pay.

As to benefits, I would imagine she'd get some form of tax credit - CAB is the best port of call, or indeed Revenues and Customs directly.

All the best to her, hope she has a speedy recovery.

[666moe666]

Sorry, I can't help with information, but I will wish her a speedy recovery. It's a really awful thing to have happen to you

[mycarsavw]

She'll have signed a contract which will detail WHS approach to SSP.

The first XX weeks/days are usually covered by the company, as this will be a lengthy time of recovery, have a read of this and see what she'll be entitled to receive.

If I can help with anything more, let me know, it's part of my day-to-day job and it bores the poop out of me.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Mate,

Money Saving Expert forums have pretty good advice/members for this sort of question. My advice would be to ask there. And good luck, all the best to your ma.

MB

[Saracen]

She also might, and I stress might, have a negligence claim, depending on exactly where she fall and what the circumstances were. If you're even thinking about that though, I'd suggest getting as much evidence of the scene, such as photos, as you can.

Of course, for such a claim to exist, someone needs to have a duty of care, and to have breached it by their negligence. And you'll need to be able to prove it. But if such a claim were to be possible, the compensation could well be of the order of many thousands.

[scaryjim]

IN the short term, as everyone has said, there'll be a period of SSP / Company sick pay.

If it's SSP that will almost certainly be less than her normal pay, in which case she can put in a claim for both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. I doubt she'll get her full rent or CT paid, but she should get some contribution towards them (Im afraid I've been out of benefits assessment for a few years so can't really do you any figures).

I doubt she'll qualify for IS so she'll need to get her claim in *now* - it's worth putting a claim in even if she won't end up needing the benefit (e.g. she gets an extensive period at full pay from WHS - seems unlikely though ) as the benefit would only be paid from the Monday after the Council receive the claim. This doesn't need to be a claim form though, so get someone to write a letter on her behalf, stating "I wish to claim Housing and Council Tax Benefit as I have suffered an accident and will be unable to work" and hand it in to a council office *tomorrow*, getting a receipt for it. That way if she does end up needing to claim the claim will start from Monday coming at the latest. Aso, she can claim up to 13 weeks in advance (or at least you used to be able to) so even if she doesn't need benefit straight away getting a letter in know will mean she has a claim in "just in case".

As to the long term, if she can't get back to work it'd be incapacity benefits, but that's a way off yet and I hope it doesn't come to that.

If you want any of the above clarifying just ask: to get more details get someone who's with her to talk to the local council. The main thing is to get the letter into the Council tonight or tomorrow.

[steve threlfall]

Ygpm mate

[WhiteGiant]

Great responses guys, especially the PMs.

Saracen, I was thinking the same about making a claim - she fell on a pedestrian crossing! Funny thing is, about 10 minutes after the ambulance took her away, a solicitor fell in exactly the same place and broke his leg! I tried to get my mum to ask a nurse to contact him to see if he was making a claim, but she's not that kind of person.

scaryjim, I'll definately tell her to get her sister to get the letter in to the council today, thanks.

[shelley bda]

Can't really give any advice on what to do, except echo what others have said. Hope your Mum is better soon and whatever happens, she is lucky to have you and the rest of her family supporting her. Stick together and things won't go far wrong x

[TKPeters]

All depends on who owns the path she slipped on, if its the local authority it will depend on whether the path had been cleared previously, as they don't have to clear all the paths