I don't know if you all remember, a few weeks back I was spouting off about not being able to claim Carers Allowance because I got a full state pension, and I said that it stated on the web that state pension contributions were not taken into account when claiming for carers allowance, but that I was being turned down because I had a state pension.
I wrote to my local MP and explained that on one hand it stated I could not get Carers allowance because I had a state pension but on the other hand it stated state pension contributions were not taken into account when claiming for Carers Allowance.
I received a letter from my MP and was told she was looking into it.
I received some forms yesterday for me to fill in, I didn't ask for them so I don't know who authorised them, but the forms were headed :-
'THIS FORM IS TO CLAIM FOR CARERS ALLOWANCE, ONLY WHEN YOU GET A STATE PENSION'.
It ask for details of my caring, how many hours etc. I am going to fill them in and see what happens. When I was researching this I never, ever saw anything about a form you could apply for to claim for Carers Allowance when you HAD a pension.
Hi Sweetthing, This is news to me as well. When I looked into this before, to see if my 79 year old Mum could claim for my carer, as she has driven to my house almost every week day for the past 2 1/2 years and helped out. It clearly stated that if you were claiming your pension you were not entitled to any carers allowance so she has never got any help. Could you give me the details off the form and where and how to get hold of one please. I will watch for your posts to see how you get on with interest. Many thanks Sweetthing
I will have a look and let you know. I did not send for it so cannot understand who has sent it to me unless the MP has been involved. She got involved when we kept being turned down for Attendance Allowance then lo and behold we were granted it.
Nothing may come of it, but it is the fact that there IS a form to claim for Carers Allowance when you get a pension that I cannot understand when it is not shown on the websites.
If you go to page 11 it tells you (,you may not be paid careers allowance if you receive state pension , and other benefits,) If your income exceeds the threshold for careers allowance, then you not be able to receive , what it may do is increase other benefits,
Wait till Monday and speak to BLF benefits advisor.
My husband is my carer, he receives a full state pension and when we claimed carers allowance we got more housing benefit because we were paid the carer's premium but no direct payment.
Good Luck with your application after all if you don't try you never know what you can get.
Maybe your MP just forwarded your query to the right people although it is hard to believe that there are MP's who actually work for their constituents.
Short answer in cash terms is that what one qualifies for (if one does) is the Carers Premium used in calculating other means tested benefits such as Icome support or Pension Credit rather than the actual carers allowance.
Carers allowance is close to £60 per week whereas the carer premium is only about £30 so carers dont actualy get "poaid" to care so much as have the extra costs of being a carer taken into account when calculating the amount of income they need to survive.
Effectively two hurdles are involved the first is meeting the number of hours of caring provided which must be at least 35 hours per week. For those on State Pension this will establish what ios know as an "Underlying Entitlement" to Carers Allowance not the allowancde itself.
The next test is meeting the income threshold for means tested benefits once the carer premium is added to ones applicable amount i.e. the minimum income the government calculate someone in your situation needs to have coming in.
As a rough guide if one already has too much income from pensions to qualify for Pension Credit it is unlikely they will qualify unless they are only a maximum of £30 per week over the threshold as the way this is calculated is to add the carer premuim to the normal pension credit amount and then compare that to the actual income available including allowing for the assumed earnings from any capital/savings.
End of the day the only way to find out if one qualifies is to submit a claim and then double check the DWP has actually got their sums right if they say no,
Well, I posted it off today, just to find out what it is all about. I don't think I will get anything as I have a state pension which is more than £100 per week but at least it will satisfy my curiosity.
I did mention this in my reply on 11 Feb 2013 to your previous blog i.e
"Mapal. Sorry if you have already answered this one Sweetthing but I haven't caught up on all this thread yet!
Have you obtained your info from this "DS700(SP) Notes 06/11" on the Government site "gov.uk/carers-allowance/eli... or some other site please?
Thanks."
I assumed as you didn't reply you must have already known. Sorry I didn't follow it up with you.
No, so sorry, I had not seen your comments, I received all the forms in the post the other day. I had written to my MP and told her that I was confused about claiming for Carers allowance, as it stated that National Insurance contributions were NOT taken into account when claiming Carers Allowance, and then it stated that if you got a state pension you could not claim, so therefore National Insurance contributions were taken into account. All I wanted to know was why if you did pay into the state pension you got nothing, but if you hadn't paid into the state pension you got the allowance. It states that Carers Allowance is not means tested so I wanted to know why they were stating I could not claim for it if I had a state pension because I had contributed to this out of my wages for the past 55 years and it should not matter how much money I had if it was not means tested. That is what I wrote in the letter to the MP.
I received a letter from my MP stating she was looking into it, and the other day received these forms to complete for people who have a state pension and want to claim for Carers Allowance.
That is all I know, all I can think of is that she actually spoke to someone and they sent me these forms. Like I have said, I am not holding my breath as according to the benefits office I am outside the limit to claim for Carers Allowance as I have a full state pension even though Carers Allowance is not supposed to be means tested.
I have filled them in and posted them off so that is that, I don't think I will hear from them again, as according to the rules and regulations I am not entitled to it.
you deserve carers allowance, good luck and keep us informed
jan
I don't think I will get it, and to be honest, it is just the principal of the thing that gets to me, I am called a carer but don't get paid for it because if I didn't do it, my husband would be in hospital all the time and I am the one that is keeping him at home by looking after him, therefore saving them a lot of money.
It is the same for all carers, they should get paid without all this stupid messing about, and if we all downed tools, then there would be a shortage off ambulances as everyone would be calling 999 to be taken into hospital. How would they cope then. We are all too dedicated or have no choice in the matter and the government knows this.
For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. It is what we promised to do.
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