Britons can claim Carer’s Allowance if they provide care for someone and meet certain criteria. The three main criteria points for claiming are that a person must provide care for 35 hours a week, be over the age of 16 years, and must not earn more than £132 a week from employment or self-employment. People receiving Carer’s Allowance receive payments of £69.70 a week which works out to nearly £279 every month.
However, carers risk losing access to this benefit if they fail to update the DWP regarding any life changes which could affect their claim.
There are multiple scenarios which the Government department believes must be reported for someone to continue receiving their full £69.70 a week.
According to the Government guidance, changes which people need to report include things such as any changes to income such as starting a job, starting or ending full-time education, and if someone stops being a carer.
People will also need to report if someone else who cares for the same person is claiming Carer’s Allowance or if they are claiming the carer’s element of Universal Credit, and if the person someone cares for no longer receives a disability benefit or if they die.
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People must also report changes to their immigration status, if they’re not a British citizen.
Failure to report these changes could find individuals being taken to court.
Alternatively, they have to pay a penalty if they give the wrong information.
However, Britons can still get Carer’s Allowance if they “temporarily” stop providing care.
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In order to keep receiving Carer’s Allowance when care temporarily stops the person being cared for must still receive their disability benefit in order for someone to keep receiving Carer’s Allowance.
Britons can only claim the allowance if the person they care for claims one of the “qualifying benefits”.
These include Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), or Armed Forces Independence Payment.
The DWP also warns if someone has been paid too much they will have to repay the money if they did not report a change straight away, gave wrong information or were overpaid by mistake.
What constitutes as care, according to the DWP, includes helping with washing and cooking, taking the person being cared for to a doctor’s appointment or helping with household tasks, such as managing bills and shopping.
The earring allowance of £132 a week is income after tax, National Insurance and expenses are deducted.
Expenses can include 50 percent for pension contributions, equipment people need to do your job, travel costs between different workplaces that are not paid for by an employer, and business costs if someone is self-employed.
It usually takes between three to six weeks to receive the DWP’s decision on a Carer’s Allowance claim.
The DWP has recently stated that their decision turnaround is currently sitting on around 37 working days.
If a person’s Carer’s Allowance claim is successful, they may also be able to backdate their claim for up to three months.
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