Dean Morgan is the Managing Director of a franchise of Grey Matters Consultancy; a business founded with the aim of meeting the needs of those in retirement at the point they need additional assistance, and for offering guidance to those who have the responsibility for their care.

Dean is himself a franchisee based in Cardiff with a background in social care and through Grey Matters provides a range of services focused on identifying financial support for the elderly and vulnerable; anything from disabled badges and council tax exemption to pension credits and attendance allowance.

Attendance allowance specifically is a hugely under-appreciated and under utilised benefit, providing financial support to people of retirement age and older to live comfortably and independently in their own home.

It can be over £5000 per annum at the higher rate, and Dean does a lot of work, including podcasts like this, to help people understand their eligibility and correct common misconceptions.

One of the biggest barriers is the application form. For an indication of the complicated nature of applying for attendance allowance Dean cites research from 2021 which showed 60% of applications fail. In his own franchise he is achieving 99% success rates.

He explains how doing things "in the right order" can often help with applications; attendance allowance can open up eligibility for pension credit; can be used as evidence to support council tax reduction claims; those caring for recipients of attendance allowance could claim carer's allowance.

Dean also explains how the requests for help often come from the families of the vulnerable, not from vulnerable people themselves who often suffer in silence.

Listen in for Dean's interesting insight into the much needed work of organisations who play their part in supporting the social care sector and how they can work with private client practitioners to dovetail their services.

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