Can I continue to receive Carer's Allowance and have a break?

Running from the start of Sunday to the end of the following Saturday, Carer's Allowance is a weekly benefit. If you claim this, your 35 caring hours can be completed at any point during the week. 

This means that you may have completed the 35 caring hours in the same week that you have taken a day or two days' break from caring for example. This might also be the case if the person you care for has one or two days' respite care.

If you are going to be in hospital for any planned period of time, you need to let the Carer's Allowance Unit know or the Disability and Carer Service (if you live in Northern Ireland). Keep a record of the dates (for admission and discharge) and when you have updated them.

The break in care can be taken as one period or in a series of week-long blocks.

They can be for any reason such as a holiday without the person(s) you care for or during a short-term stay in a residential home.

Other reasons might be if you wanted some time to yourself or needed to take on some additional work (bearing in mind the earnings cap for Carer's Allowance).

You can continue to receive Carer’s Allowance for up to 12 weeks if you go into hospital (providing you or the person you care for has been in hospital for at least eight weeks). 

There are a few other conditions for this

• The break in care must be temporary.
• You must have been providing 35 hours or more of care a week for at least 14 of the past 26 weeks. 
• The person you care for must also have been receiving a qualifying benefit for that period.
  
  

What counts as a day in hospital?

For Carer's Allowance, the day you are admitted isn't counted as a day in hospital, but the day you are discharged is counted as a day in hospital.

(For most qualifying disability benefits however, partial days in hospital are not counted at all.)

Note that Carer’s Allowance will stop if your total breaks add up to more than 12 weeks in the past 26 weeks.

You may be able to be paid temporarily if you meet certain criteria

You can continue to be paid Carer's Allowance for a temporary period whilst you are abroad if you meet all of the following conditions:

• you go abroad with the person you look after
• they continue to receive a qualifying disability benefit (likely to be a maximum of 26 weeks)
• the purpose of your trip is to look after them.

In any other circumstances, you can continue to be paid Carer's Allowance for up to four weeks for a temporary absence as long as you have not had more than four weeks’ break from caring in the last 26 weeks.

Remember to let all the benefit offices know if you are going abroad and for how long this will be.

If the person you look after goes into hospital and you are no longer providing care for at least 35 hours a week

Your Carer's Allowance usually stops after four weeks because if the person you care for is an adult, this is when their qualifying disability benefit usually stops. (This may stop sooner if they have been in hospital or residential care in the 28 days before this current stay.)

You may be able to get Carer's Allowance for up to 12 weeks or until their qualifying disability benefit stops. (If they are self-funding, their benefit will continue however.)

Can I receive Carer's Allowance for longer?

To qualify for the 12-week duration, the person you care for must have been in hospital for at least eight of the 12 weeks. In addition, the break in care must be temporary and you must have been providing 35 hours or more of care a week for 14 of the past 26 weeks. 

The person you care for must also have been receiving a qualifying benefit (such as the daily living part of PIP or Attendance Allowance) for that period.

• If you are looking after a child who was under 18 when they went into hospital, their qualifying disability benefit can continue to be paid for the whole time they are there.

Note that Carer’s Allowance will stop if your total breaks add up to more than 12 weeks in the past 26 weeks.

If the person you look after goes into hospital and you continue to provide care for at least 35 hours a week

You can continue to get Carer's Allowance until their disability benefit stops. This means that if the person you look after is a child who is under 18 when they go into hospital, and you continue to provide care for at least 35 hours a week, you can continue to get Carer's Allowance for the whole time they are there.

If your Carer’s Allowance stops due to the person you care for being in hospital, you can continue to get the Carer Premium or Carer Addition paid within your means-tested benefits for eight weeks after your Carer’s Allowance stops. 

If your Carer’s Allowance stops due to the person you care for being in hospital and you are claiming Universal Credit, the Carer Element within your Universal Credit will also stop.

If the person you are looking after goes into residential care, you will only be able to continue to claim Carer’s Allowance if they continue to receive a qualifying disability benefit and you are still caring for them for at least 35 hours a week.

Your Carer’s Allowance will stop if you are no longer caring for them for at least 35 hours a week or their qualifying disability benefit stops.

The following benefits will usually stop after four weeks when someone moves into residential care (and may stop sooner if they have been in hospital or residential care in the 28 days before this current stay):

• the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Attendance Allowance

However, there are certain circumstances when these benefits can continue, such as where the person is paying all of the costs of their stay. 

If your Carer’s Allowance stops due to the person you care for moving into residential care, you can continue to get the Carer Premium or Carer Addition paid with your means-tested benefits for eight weeks after your Carer’s Allowance stops.

If your Carer’s Allowance stops due to the person you look after being in residential care and you are claiming Universal Credit, the carer element within your Universal Credit will also stop.

You can usually continue to get Carer’s Allowance for up to eight weeks after the person you have been looking after dies.

This would be if you still met the age, study, earnings and residence criteria, and they were entitled to the qualifying disability benefit when they died.

If you are receiving means-tested benefits, you can usually continue to get the Carer Premium or Addition within your means-tested benefits for up to eight weeks after the person you have been looking after dies. 

If you are receiving Universal Credit, the Carer Element usually continues for the rest of the assessment period in which the death occurred, and for the next two assessment periods.

As well as experiencing a deep sense of loss and grief, the financial considerations and practical matters can sometimes be overwhelming. We have offered some suggestions in our bereavement guidance to help. 

To help alleviate the stress of letting certain providers know, in England, Scotland or Wales, you can use the ‘Tell us Once’ service.

In Northern Ireland, you can use this service.

Usually, the qualifying period before you can have a break is 22 weeks. However, it can be less (up to eight weeks less if you or the person you care for has been in hospital during that time).

Weeks you spent caring before you qualified for Carer's Allowance can also count towards the 22 weeks if the person you cared for was receiving a qualifying benefit. 

We have some further information and a factsheet here: Taking a break | Carers UK.

You can also contact our Helpline as our advisers will be able to provide more specialist guidance according to your situation. Please email [email protected]