Carer’s Allowance is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to people who are caring for someone for 35 hours a week or more. However, hundreds of thousands of Britons who care for someone are losing out on £1.5billion worth of benefits every year, according to the national poverty charity Turn2us.
A staggering £15billion is lost in unclaimed benefits every year and a significant part of this is due to unclaimed Carer’s Allowance.
One reason why people might not claim the state benefits they are entitled to is because they don’t think they will be eligible for extra financial assistance to help them meet the soaring cost of living.
Some benefits like Carer’s Allowance are available to people who are working as long as they are earning below the threshold which works out at £128 a week after deductions and expenses.
To claim Carer’s Allowance people need to meet the following criteria.
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In total, millions of people are missing out on Carer’s Allowance, Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Attendance Allowance.
Even if the amount they receive in benefits is minimal it could open up the door to other benefits like free prescriptions and help towards paying energy bills.
PIP payments are for UK residents who are living with a health condition or disability and are paid by the DWP.
The amount of PIP someone receives depends on how much their condition affects their ability to carry out everyday tasks but could be up to £608 a month.
Meanwhile, Attendance Allowance is paid to people of state pension age who have care needs because of a physical or mental disability.
Almost three and a half (3.4) million pensioners are missing out on Attendance Allowance which could help them meet extra costs that come from having a disability.
Depending on the level of care required claimants could receive £60 or £89.60 a week to help with their care.
In April, state benefits like carer’s allowance will increase 3.1 percent to bring them in line with inflation.
It will mean carers will receive an extra £2.10 every week from the DWP as their weekly pay will increase from £67.60 to £69.70.
However, campaigners such as poverty charity Turn2Us are concerned that carers are not paid enough.
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said: “Despite the rise, carers are still losing out on working hours year on year as increases have not kept pace with the National Living Wage or average wage rises.”
To apply for extra government assistance people can go to Gov.uk where there is a handy benefits calculator.
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