Carer’s Allowance is £61.35 a week to help you look after someone with substantial caring needs.
You need to be spending at least 35 hours a week caring for them, but you don’t need to be related
to the person you care for. You’ll be eligible if the person you’re caring for is getting:
- The Daily Living part of Personal Independence Payment, or
- Attendance Allowance, or
- Armed Forces Independence Payment, or
- Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal rate, with an Industrial Injuries
Disablement Benefit - Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full-day) rate with a War Disablement Pension.
This benefit is taxable and can affect your other benefits and some of the benefits of the person you
are caring for. This means that any means-tested benefits you get will be reduced by the same
amount you get from Carer’s Allowance. This includes:
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
You should still claim Carer’s Allowance because if you qualify for an ‘income-related’ benefit, you
may get an extra amount called the Carer’s Addition or Carer Premium. The income related benefits
you may be able to get are:
- Income Support
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Pension credit, or
- Housing benefit
- Council Tax Reduction, which you will need to speak to your local council about.
Carer’s allowance may also help you build up National Insurance contributions so that you would get
some State Second Pension as well as your basic State Pension when you reach State Pension age.
This may be liable to change if the government goes ahead with plans to introduce a new single-tier
scheme in April 2016.
Overlapping Benefit Rule
You can’t normally get two income-replacement benefits (e.g. Carer’s Allowance and State Pension)
paid together. Although you may not get this benefit if you have other benefits, it’s worth applying
for as it may increase the financial help you are already getting.
