At Carers UK we know that across the UK today 6.5 million people are carers, supporting a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill.
I would like to talk a little about Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Credit this morning, but firstly I wanted to say that we have a web tool especially designed for new carers or carers who are looking for support for the first time. It's called Up Front and you can just answer some quick questions and you’ll be sent an email with useful information, tailored to your situation. carersuk.org/upfront/
It can also be very helpful to connect to a local carers centre and we have a local carer’s centre search: Carers UK Local Directory Search - Carers UK as does The Carer’s Trust website: Help & Info - Carers Trust . I do recommend having a look and getting in touch. carersuk.org/help-and-advic... and carers.org/help-and-info/in...
Back to Carer’s Allowance and Carers Credit 😊
It can be hard to know what benefits are available to those with a caring role, so I hope the information below will be of use.
Carer's Allowance is the main carer benefit paid to working age carers for day-to-day money. It is not money to pay for care for the person you look after. It can be claimed if you meet the following rules:
• You look after someone who gets a qualifying disability
benefit: the daily living component of Personal Independence Allowance, the Middle or higher rate of DLA care or any rate of Attendance Allowance.
• You look after that person for at least 35 hours a week;
• You are aged 16 or over;
• You are not in full-time education;
• You earn £128 a week (after deductions) or less; (the way self-employed earnings and employee earnings are worked out if different, so please do seek advice if you are not sure.
• You satisfy the UK presence and residence conditions.
You will also receive a Class 1 national insurance credit to protect your State Pension, which is important if you are not able to work.
You can read more about Carer's Allowance here:
carersuk.org/help-and-advic...
It’s currently paid at £67.60 per week and you can still claim if you have savings, draw upon a work or personal pension and/or have a partner who is working.
Sometimes people earn a bit over the limit for Carer’s Allowance and think they can’t claim, however when looking at earnings for the purposes of Carer’s Allowance, the following amounts are deducted from gross earnings.
o Income Tax
o National Insurance contributions
o Half of any contributions you make towards an occupational/personal pension. This is no limit on this, but the Carer's Allowance Unit will need to see the pension premium paperwork. It is only the employee's pension contribution that counts for this, not any payment the employer makes.
o Some income, which would otherwise be classed as earnings, is specifically disregarded. If person gets Carer's Allowance and, because of their work, has to pay someone (other than a close relative) to look after the severely disabled person for who they care for , or to look after a child under 16 for whom they or a partner are getting the Child Benefit, these care costs can be deducted when the earnings are calculated. The maximum disregard is 50% of the figure which would otherwise be the net earnings. A close relative means a parent, son, daughter, brother, sister or partner of the carer or of the severely disabled person for whom they care.
o Expenses that you incur ‘wholly and exclusively in carrying out your work’ i.e. the costs of tools or of a special uniform, or travel within your working day. Travel to and from your place of work is not counted as an allowable expense.
Here is how you can contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit to make a claim or ask any questions:
General enquiries
Telephone: 0800 731 0297
Textphone: 0800 731 0317
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0297
Video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users - check you can use this service
Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm
Find out about call charges
Carers Allowance Unit
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2AB
You are also able to make a new claim online: gov.uk/carers-allowance/how...
You can also report a change online here: gov.uk/carers-allowance-rep...
It’s very important to remember to report any changes of circumstances to prevent you being overpaid or not paid enough. Some examples of the changes the DWP tell us to report are:
•you change, start or leave your job
•you start earning more than £128 a week
•you stop being a carer
•you stop providing at least 35 hours of care a week
•you take a holiday or go into hospital - even if you arrange care while you’re away
•the person you care for goes into hospital or takes a holiday
However starting to study full time is an important change also, and we always say to report any change you are not sure about to the benefit agencies just in case.
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