You must be 16 years old or over
Carer's Allowance is a benefit for people for people who are 16 years old or over.
You can make a claim up to three months before your 16th birthday although the benefit will be paid from the day you become 16.
You can claim Carer's Allowance if you are over 65. If your State Retirement Pension is worth more than Carer's Allowance you cannot get Carer's Allowance. However, you may still be able to get the carer addition with Pension Credit.
If you can't get a pension, or your pension is low because you haven't paid enough National Insurance Contributions, you can get the Carer's Allowance when you reach 65. However, Carer's Allowance is reduced by the amount of Retirement Pension that you receive.
If you were awarded Carer's Allowance on or after 28 October 2002 you must satisfy all the rules to be paid it. If you were over 65 and receiving Carer's Allowance in October 2002 you can continue to get Carer's Allowance even if you stop caring for a disabled person or you earn more than the earnings limit.
NB There are special rules for women born between 13 April 1911 and 27 October 1929 who were caring before they reached 65.
You must look after someone for at least 35 hours a week
You can claim Carer's Allowance only for a week in which you look after someone for at least 35 hours. The week runs from the start of Sunday to the end of the following Saturday. This can cause problems. For example, if you care for someone only every other weekend, the hours that you care on Saturday are counted as being in a separate week from the hours that you care on Sunday. This can mean that you do not provide 35 hours of care in any given week.
Time spent preparing for a visit, or clearing up afterwards, may count towards the 35 hours a week needed - as can time spent travelling to pick up the person you care for from the place where they normally live or to drop them off after their visit.
You must provide care for one person for 35 hours a week. You cannot add together the time you spend caring for different people to make up the 35 hours.
You can continue to receive Carer's Allowance for 8 weeks after the person you look after has died.
The person you are caring for must receive one of the following benefits:
If the person you are looking after does not currently get Disability Living Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance or Attendance Allowance you should claim Carer's Allowance at the same time as they claim their benefit. If there is a delay in processing the benefit of the person you look after, you may receive a letter saying that you can't get Carer's Allowance. If the person you look after is awarded benefit later and you then reclaim Carer's Allowance, your benefit should be paid from the date of your first claim.
If you work you must not earn more than £95
To receive Carer's Allowance, you must not earn more than £95 a week. Some deductions can be made from your gross wage when deciding whether you earn less than the limit.
You are allowed to take the following off your wage:
If you pay someone to care for a child, or the person you look after, you can make extra deductions from your gross wage. Up to half of your wage can be ignored if you make these payments. You are not allowed to take off payments to a close relative for the childcare or other care.
If your earnings vary from week to week an average of your earnings is taken. If you have just left work when you first start caring, you may not qualify for Carer's Allowance at first because your last earnings can be treated as being due for the first weeks of your claim.
Occupational or personal pensions do not count as earnings. If your partner gets an occupational or personal pension you may not be able to claim an addition to the benefit for them. State Retirement Pension can affect your right to Carer's Allowance. You must not get one of a list of other benefits which are detailed next.
You must not get one of a list of other benefits
If you already receive one of the following benefits (of the same amount as Carer's Allowance or more) you will not be able to get Carer's Allowance:
If you get one of these benefits, it may still be worth applying for Carer's Allowance as you may qualify for Carer Premium.
You must be living in the UK when you claim Carer's Allowance
Only people who normally live in the UK can get Carer's Allowance. You must have lived in the UK for at least 26 of the last 52 weeks.
Usually, you cannot claim Carer's Allowance if there are any immigration restrictions attached to your right to stay in the UK. There are some exceptions to this rule. Seek further advice if you think the rule may apply to you.
There are special rules for people in the armed forces and people from the European Economic Area.
You can go abroad on your own for four weeks in any six-month period and still get the benefit. You must have been getting Carer's Allowance for at least 22 weeks before you leave.
If you go abroad with the person you look after and the main reason you are with them is to care for them, you can get Carer's Allowance for as long as they continue to get their disability benefit.
You must not be a full-time student
If you study for 21 hours or more a week, you won't qualify for the Carer's Allowance. You cannot claim during any temporary absence from the course or during the holidays.
If you study less than 21 hours a week you can get the Carer's Allowance. Only time spent in "supervised" study counts towards the 21 hours. Breaks and private study are not counted. Homework and revisions may count as supervised study.
Page Last Modified: 21/05/2008
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