How a break might affect your benefits

Payment of benefits can sometimes be affected if you take a break or you or the person you are looking after goes into hospital or residential care.

Taking a break

You can have up to a total of four weeks break in any 26 week period and be paid Carer’s Allowance during these breaks. You must have been providing 35 hours or more of care a week for at least 22 of the past 26 weeks. The person you have been looking after must have been in receipt of the middle or higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance Allowance (AA) or Constant Attendance Allowance for that period.

Going into hospital

If you or the person you care for has to go into hospital you can still receive Carer’s Allowance if you have been providing 35 hours or more of care a week for at least 14 of the past 26 weeks. The person you have been looking after must have been in receipt of the middle or higher rate of the care component of DLA or AA or Constant Attendance Allowance for that period.

You can continue to get Carer’s Allowance for up to 12 weeks in any 26 week period, depending on whether you have also had breaks from caring for other reasons. To continue to receive Carer’s Allowance for up to 12 weeks the person you care for must continue to receive DLA or AA or Constant Attendance Allowance.

If you are looking after an adult, their DLA or AA will stop after they have been in hospital for 28 days. If you are looking after a child under 16 their DLA will stop after 12 weeks in hospital. If two stays in hospital or residential care are separated by 28 days or less, they are added together when deciding whether DLA/AA should stop.

In practice, if you are caring for an adult, you will only be able to receive Carer’s Allowance for 28 days if it is the person you are caring for who is in hospital.

Going into care

AA and the care component of DLA stop after 28 days if the person you look after is in temporary or permanent residential care funded by the Local Authority or NHS Trust (unless the only contribution from the NHS is an amount called the Registered Nursing Care Contribution). This applies regardless of their age. The mobility component of DLA is still paid.  If two stays in residential care or hospital are separated by 28 days or less, they are added together when deciding whether DLA/AA should stop.

Your Carer’s Allowance will stop once the DLA or AA of the person you are caring for stops. However, if you have have also had breaks from caring for other reasons your Carer’s Allowance may stop sooner.

Always let the Carer’s Allowance Unit know if you take a break or you or the person you are looking after go into hospital or residential care. You should also let the DLA/AA Unit know about any time spent in hospital or a care home.

Other benefits can all be affected by a stay in residential or hospital care – seek advice about this from Carers UK’s Advice line.

Going abroad

DLA and AA can continue for up to 26 weeks of a temporary stay abroad. You can continue to get Carer’s Allowance whilst you are abroad if either: 

• You go abroad with the person you look after, and s/he continues to receive their qualifying disability benefit, and the purpose of your trip is to look after them. In this case, Carer’s Allowance can be paid for up to 26 weeks or 
• For up to four weeks in any other circumstances.

If you are going abroad to another country in Europe, special rules may apply which may mean that DLA, AA and CA can continue to be paid for longer.

Income Support/Pension Credit can continue to be paid for up to four or eight weeks if you go abroad for on a temporary basis; to check this and eligibility for other benefits when you go abroad, seek advice. You may be entitled to benefits that you are not claiming and which might help to pay for extra care. Ask you local advice centre or Carers UK’s Advice line to do a complete benefits check for you.