Hi, my name is Lw79! Carers Premium, would the person lose their LCWRA entitlement?

Lw79

Hi there, I'm needing to come out of work to become a carer, the person I will be caring for recieves PIP and also LCWRA.

Iv learnt that it would be pointless claiming Carers Allowance as this is deducted pound for pound from U.C, so it would make sense just to apply for the Carers Premium.

My question is, if I claim the Carers Premium would the person I will be caring for lose their LCWRA entitlement?

Many thanks.

poppy123456

Carers premium isn't a benefit in itself and it's not something you can claim on its own. It's a premium that is added to various legacy benefits such as Income Related ESA,JSA, Income Support and Pension Credit.

If you're claiming Universal Credit yourself then yes you can claim carers element. It will have no affect on their UC claim.

If you're not claiming UC yourself then whether there's any entitlement will depend on your circumstances. If you live with a partner you'll need to claim as a couple and your joint circumstances will be taken into consideration. If you have capital/savings or more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming.

Carers element has no earnings limit like carers allowance does so you can continue to work if you want to.

Just to give some extra advice, although carers allowance is deducted in full from any UC entitlement, you would receive class 1 NI credits for this but for UC you only receive class 3.

Lw79

Hi, thankyou for your reply.

I will need to claim U.C an then ask for the Carers Premium to be added. The person I will be caring for recieves LCRWA and PIP, would my claiming the Carers Premium element affect their LCWRA entitlement please?

Thank you for your help.

Albus_Scope

Heya @Lw79 and welcome to the community.

I'm glad to see Poppy is helping you with your queries. I just wanted to stop in and say a quick hi. 😊

Lw79

Hi there, and thankyou. Poppy is helping me with my question which is greatly appreciated. 🙂

poppy123456

It’s not called carers premium for UC, it’s known as carers element.

Have you used a benefits calculator to check entitlement to UC? If not then please do that. If you live with a partner you will need to claim as a couple as I advised. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

If it shows entitlement you will need to report being a carer and then the carers element will be included.

It will not affect their LCWRA or their UC.

If you haven’t yet given up work then I’d advise you to wait to claim UC until you receive your last earnings. If you don’t then earnings received will affect your UC and your first payment could be reduced to zero.

Lw79

Thanks Poppy, much appreciated. 🙂