Income support when a carer?

[Zara_1706]

Hi all

This is my first post and am new .

I have been a carer to my mom for the past 3yrs and had left university to care for her. I care for her all day and am happy to do so I don't see my self as a carer but see it as a pleasure to care for her. She can't bathe or dress herself due to severe pain all over her body from fibromyalgia and arthritis. She also can't cook to due memory problems as she can forget a pan is on or there are chips in the oven for example. So I cook for her so I know she is safe. She also suffer with anxiety and speech difficulties​ from her memory problems she can't go out on her own as she get to distressed that she has panic attacks.

Anyway my mom's GP asked if I'd even realised that I'm technically my mom's carer and would qualify for carers allowance as I do everything for her like bath and dress her, pick prescriptions, do her food shop and all her meals , help her in and out of bed ect.

I looked this up as I currently have no income as I don't claim any benefit as I'm not ill and I don't have time to look for work as I have to be with my mom 24\7 as she needs care all day and I'm the only one who's happy to look after her. So am not eligible for JSA as I'm not seeking work. Anyway the GOV website said that the person you care for has to get either PIP, Attendance Allowance or another benefit I can't remember. My mom only gets ESA at the moment but made a claim for PIP a few weeks ago as she's only just heard of it. Shes sent the PIP form back that they send you and is now waiting for a face to face consultation. So as since as she has a claim but not been awarded yet I believe I can't claim for carers allowance. So after further research I also found out you can get income support as a carer and can claim as long has the person you care for has a claim for pip and can still apply even if there waiting for a decision or waiting for a face to face. Is this true can I still claim for income support even why my mom is waiting for a face to face?

Many thanks
Zara

[susieq]

Hello Zara and welcome to the forum

The very best advice I can give you is for you to contact the Carers UK Adviceline team, they are the acknowledged experts on ALL matters related to caring and benefits and would be able to do a benefits check for both you and your Mum.

Need expert advice? You can talk to the Carers UK Adviceline five days a week, no matter where you are in the UK or how complex your query is. We do benefits checks and advise on financial and practical matters related to caring.

0808 808 7777
advice@carersuk.org
Open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm

The Carers UK Adviceline also includes a listening service, there for you to talk through your caring situation with a trained volunteer who understands what you are going through. Available Mondays and Tuesdays, from 9am to 7pm

.


If you can’t get through on the phones (lines are often oversubscribed) then send them an email, they’ll usually get back to you within 3-5 working days.

[sunnydisposition]

https://www.gov.uk/income-support/eligibility
http://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-ca ... px?e2dwp=y
http://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Income ... les-Carers

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/e ... as-a-carer

[Zara_1706]

Thank you both. Im going to phone the advice line on Monday when there open. IV read the links and the third link is the one I read were is says that if the person you care for has put in a claim for a qualifying benefit you can claim income support for Upton 26weeks. Thats what I read so I'm going to check this when I phone on Monday to check this is right and if it is I will make a claim for income support.

Thank you both.

[bowlingbun]

Zara, the helpline is brilliant. Before you speak to them, or email if the line is busy, it would be helpful if you and mum had a good talk about finances. If she has modest savings, then once her PIP claim is sorted, she may also be entitled to other extra money as well. Also be sure to talk to the helpline about mum giving you Power of Attorney, as she is getting forgetful.
Feel free to come back to the forum as often as you like, there is so much to caring!

[Zara_1706]

Hi all

Update: on the 5th of June I did apply for income support the man on the phone did tell me that I was eligible and then at then end he told me that I need to put a claim in for carers allowance he said that even if I'm not awarded CA I'll still get income support just as long as I apply. So I did but I know I'm not eligible for CA as my mum has not been awarded PIP she's just got a claim were waiting for a face to face consultation. Today tow weeks on I still did not hear anything from Income support so I phoned today and the woman on the phone said it has been awarded to me but on the basis I will be getting carers allowance and that mom will be awarded pip and that if I don't get awarded CA then I will lose my income support. so I feel like I've done all this for nothing as you can only get carers allowance if the person you care for gets one of the qualifying benefits my mom has a claim for pip but just has not been awarded it yet. So when CA say no I'll loose my IS , so IV been told tow different things and also there are a few websites out there that say you can get income support without CA even when I emailed the carers advice line the person who emailed back said that even on there website it says you don't need CA to get income support? So now I'm just confused and scared that I'm going to loose IS as soon as if just got it?

This is the link the carers advice line gave me

http://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice ... e-benefits

And if you look it reads:

Categories of people who can claim Income Support

One of the categories of people who can claim Income Support is carers. You will be considered to be a carer if you are:

Claiming Carer’s Allowance; or
Not claiming Carer’s Allowance but ‘regularly and substantially’ caring for someone who receives a qualifying disability benefit ; or
Not claiming Carer’s Allowance but ‘regularly and substantially’ caring for someone who has put in a claim for a qualifying disability benefit. You can claim Income Support on this basis for up to six months, or until the claim for the qualifying disability benefit has been decided (whichever is sooner).
Note: A ‘qualifying disability benefit’ includes the middle or the higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), either rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), or either rate of Attendance Allowance.

So it states if not claiming carers allowance? I don't know how to prove this to Income support if there saying all the websites and other organisations are wrong?

And am I right that I will be declined carers allowance if my mom has only got a claim for pip but not been awarded yet?

[Zara_1706]

Just received my letter a few minutes ago. And it doesn't state anything about what she said on the phone about only getting it if I get carers allowance. It just says I'm entitled to £57.90 a week from the 7th of June and that my first payment will be on the 27th of june and then every fortnightly but that's it nothing else and nothing about what she said about carers allowance.

[susieq]

Zara it's not uncommon for the advisors at the DWP to be wrong ! Frankly I'd believe the information from our Advice Line people above anyone else's.

Income Support and Carers Allowance are two completely separate benefits - for starters you don't have to be a Carer to apply for IS, that's just one of the categories of people who can apply for it - there are others totally unrelated to caring.

You say your Mum is currently applying for PIP ? But does she already receive any of the other qualifying benefits, like DLA or Attendance Allowance ? If not it might be better holding off applying for Carers Allowance until she has been awarded PIP, then you will know that your claim for CA is unlikely to be knocked back.

[Zara_1706]

Hi, thanks for your advice

IV also put an email into the advice line again for advice.

With my mom she put a claim in for pip over the phone in march 2017 then in may 2017 she got her how your disability affects you form and filled it in and sent it off at then end of may 2017. So we're waiting to see if she needs to go for a face to face. She also gets ESA she's on the assessment phase at the moment. I have already put a claim in for Carers allowance as I was told to so I could get my income support. I did check this with carers allowance and the woman on the CA phone line said that it would still be worth applying as it's taking between 6-12 weeks to look at applications due to a backlog of applications so by the time they reach mine they said your mom might have been awarded pip by then.

[stacey _1705]

Just guessing but if your mum could phone the decision makers at pip it may well be it could be done already and she hasnt got word yet as u have been told they are paying your carers from 7th june as your mum would need to be on a qualifying benefit for you to recieve carers.worth a try