Universal Credit & Carers Allowance Help

AJlave1975

Hi Everyone, I am new to this group and need some advice. We have been claiming child tax credits and have been asked to migrate over to universal credit. My eldest daughter receives DLA and I claim Carers Allowance for her as I had to stop working to support her. My partner works 35 hours a week so I am the main carer of our children. I wanted to find out how my carers allowance is affected as I understand it is deducted from Universal credit allowance as apposed to child tax credit where is was in addition. Any advice would be appreciated as we are really confused. I don't understand how a benefit can be replaced with different eligibility where you are financially worse off? We are wondering if it is better not to migrate and close our universal claim? Would this also have any repercussions? We really don't want to lose our carers allowance as we rely on it to help support her. Any advice would really be appreciated. Many thanks

poppy123456

Carers allowance is always deducted in full from any UC entitlement. CA will then be paid as normal.

 You need to make sure you report being a carer and they will include the carers element in your UC. 

You shouldn’t just cancel your UC claim because there could still be some entitlement. As you have a child on your claim you and your partner will be entitled to the work allowance, which means a certain amount of earnings can be received each month before any deductions apply.

Some people are actually better off by claiming UC. If the figures show that you are worse off then they will include Transitional Protection. 

If you close your claim then you will not be entitled to anything and you will lose any potential Transitional Protection. 

AJlave1975

Thank you very much for your advice. I think we would be eligible to transitional protection as with the migration we are covered for 12 months. We just want to do the right thing and not be financially worse off! So Carers would still be paid as normal and treated separately to UC as I don't want to lose it. 

poppy123456

The 12 months applies to those migrating from Tax credits and have savings/capital of more than £16,000. This would mean they will be entitled to UC for 12 months but after that time if their capital is still more than £16,000 their UC ends.

For anyone else whether there’s any entitlement to TP will depend on the figures of your Tax credits against UC. 

As I advised CA is still deducted in full from UC but you will still receive CA as a separate payment but there’s no financial gain to claiming it. 

AutumnBreeze

AJlave1975 said:

Thank you very much for your advice. I think we would be eligible to transitional protection as with the migration we are covered for 12 months. We just want to do the right thing and not be financially worse off! So Carers would still be paid as normal and treated separately to UC as I don't want to lose it. 

Yes, carer's allowance is paid as normal with UC.  When they calculate UC it's worked out as separate elements.  Base rate(s) replace JSA, then the housing allowance if you would usually get housing benefit etc.  I'm in a similar situation however my OH can't work currently due to health issues so gets the (LCWRA) additional element (basically equivalent to ESA).  We get Base Rate UC, Housing Element, LCWRA element for OH, Child Element with Disabled child add-on amount, then the carer's element which is cancelled out by the Carer's Allowance which is paid separately.  We also get the child benefit and child DLA amounts paid separately.  In addition to this we also get a council tax reduction, so when you get your notice of how much they are giving you contact the council to check if you are entitled to a discount off your council tax bill. (It may depend on your OH's earnings though).  Depending on the UC award you may also be entitled to discount's off some household utility bills, so do check with your current providers (a lot of people don't know that and are missing out - I managed to get a big chunk knocked off the water rates, and our internet is only £20 a month).  It's the little things that make all the difference.  I'd love to go back to work one day, even if only part-time, but it won't be happening for the forseeable future unfortunetly.

poppy123456

AutumnBreeze said:

AJlave1975 said:

Thank you very much for your advice. I think we would be eligible to transitional protection as with the migration we are covered for 12 months. We just want to do the right thing and not be financially worse off! So Carers would still be paid as normal and treated separately to UC as I don't want to lose it. 

 then the carer's element which is cancelled out by the Carer's Allowance 

That's misleading and not correct. Carers element isn't cancelled out by carers allowance. Carers element increases your maximum UC entitlement by £198.31/month.

Carers allowance is a separate benefit that's deducted in full from any UC entitlement. There's no financial gain to claiming this with UC, unless you live in Scotland. The only difference is for CA you receive class 1 NI credits but for UC you only receive class 3. CA can also be paid weekly but UC is monthly so can help budget a little better for some people. 

You do not need to claim carers allowance to be entitled to carers element when claiming UC. 

Carers allowance is always deducted in full from certain means tested benefits such as Income Related ESA/JSA and Income Support. 

poppy123456

bobby123 said:

Just on this
1)does claiming carers allowance and UC carers element and nothing else still allow you to work to earn up to earning £151 a week

2) does carers element and carers allowance and nothing else entitled you to free prescriptions and dental like you get with normal universal credit

1/ Carers element is part of UC and not a benefit on its own. If claiming Carers allowance then yes there's an earnings limit of £151/week. There's no earnings limit to carers element and you don't have to claim carers allowance to be entitled to carers element. 

2/ As above, carers element is part of UC and whether there's entitlement to free NHS treatment will depend on your circumstances. If there's no child on your claim and/or you haven't been found to have either LCW/LCWRA then you'll be entitled if your earnings were £435 or less in your last assessment period. 

If you have a child on your claim or you've been found to have LCW/LCWRA then you'll be entitled if your earnings were £935 or less in your last assessment period. Details here.help-with-health-costs-for-people-getting-universal-credit carers allowance is irrelevant. 

bobby123 said:

3) if for example there is a couple and one person receives lcwra and pip daily living and the wife gets carers allowance and carers element is the total savings limit you can have £6000 combined.  For example 3000 for one person and 3000 for the other person or is it 6000 each before UC is deducted 

The lower savings limit is £6,000 before deductions apply and that's combined for both. For every £250 or part thereof there's a £4.35/month deduction in UC. Capital of more than £16,000 combined and entitlement stops. This applies to working age benefits only.