SO CONFUSED WITH LCWRA ,CARERS ALLOWANCE,CARERS ELEMENT

littleajc

Hi all my name is littleajc,

I'm new here and hope I have made this post correctly very confused with a few things. So I get lcwra on uc and claim carers for my son who gets dla. I know I can't claim carers element on uc as they pay me the highest rate so that's lcwra so uc put the carers element in my partners name been that way for about 2 years now, I've looked this up and is allowed as a joint claim. I was awarded PIP back in February of this year so my partner has put in a claim for me with carers Allowance (still waiting to here on week 7). But my confusion Is, I know it's possible for me to be claiming carers allowance for my son and my partner to claim allowance for me but if my partner get excepted for carers allowance for me will we get into trouble with uc as he is on carers element for looking after our son but the only reason it's that way is because I get lcwra but I know you can't claim to be looking after 2 different people .

Any advice or help would be really appreciated surely there must be a rule for this to be allowed as it states online if I get lcwra my partner can have carers element for our son

So sorry for the long post

poppy123456

No, you won't get into trouble for your partner claiming carers allowance. Although there's no financial gain to claiming it because it's just deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

littleajc

Thankyou for the reply but would we get in trouble with uc if he is awarded it a might flag up he is under caring element for son that's what I'm really confused about , just in panic mode about it and worrying they will say I'll have a huge over payment or something.

Ow yes I totally understand that but having that little bit each week will help I see it as borrowing through the month from our uc if that makes sense and also puts towards NI for when hit pension age I believe I might be wrong.

Kind regards

poppy123456

No, you won't get into any trouble because you haven't done anything wrong. Your UC includes 1 carers element and 1 LCWRA element, which is correct. CA is just deducted in full.

Yes, CA you receive class 1 NI credits but for UC it's just class 3.

littleajc

Thankyou for your help it did put my mind at ease but my partner has just showed me this obviously the gov website now im even more confused 😕

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poppy123456

That’s not referring to your situation. You are claiming carers allowance for your son. Your partner wants to claim carers allowance for look after you. You are each caring for 2 different people.

That link refers to someone that shares caring for the same person and they can’t both claim carers allowance or carers element for caring for the same person.

littleajc

What I was also thinking about is if that is the case and they won't award my partner carers allowance for me because he already is claiming the carers element for my son even tho I'm the one claims carers allowance for our son would my partner need to change the carers element to me on uc instead of our son . So say he is awarded carers allowance for me and is backdated would we then owe the backdated time frame ie weeks of over payment to uc .

Sorry with all the questions I just have a funny feeling we are gonna be in trouble.

littleajc

So if say someone already had carers element on there uc for me then they wouldn't be entitled to carers allowance as that would be 2 people .

poppy123456

He can change carers element and claim it for you instead.

Yes, usually there will be an overpayment for UC when a lump sum is paid for carers allowance. You can keep the carers allowance lump sum to one side and pay back the UC overpayment.

You certainly can’t get into trouble because you haven’t done anything wrong.

littleajc

So it is fine for my partner to claim carers allowance for me but claim carers element on uc for our son .

Even tho the carers element would be in my name for our son as I claim carers allowance for him but because I get LCWRA ic put it in my partners name .

Morgan_Scope

@littleajc, have I understood correctly that you currently claim Carer’s Allowance for your son, while your partner is currently claiming the carer element of Universal Credit for caring for the same son?

littleajc

Yes that's correct only because I claim lcwra on uc

littleajc

I found this online aswell

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Morgan_Scope

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/926152#Comment_926152

Unfortunately, it sounds like there has been an error in allowing both of you to claim for caring for the same person. Since you are receiving Carer’s Allowance for caring for your son, your partner should not be able to claim the carer element of Universal Credit for caring for him as well.

Your partner can claim the carer element of Universal Credit for caring for you, but they should not have awarded it for caring for your son since you are already receiving Carer’s Allowance for him.

littleajc

This gets me so worried about it all. All the information I keep getting is although I claim carers allowance for my son and get LCWRA uc put my partner on caring element as they can't pay me the caring element as get lcwra and uc keeps telling me this is aloud as its a joint claim and also on the carers allowance website with the guide this shows correct but I still think there is an error aswell.

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Morgan_Scope

Hello @littleajc

That is explaining that if you and your partner were both carers and you also had LCWRA, you would be paid the LCWRA and him the carer element.

However, it's important to note that the rule still applies: two people cannot claim carer’s benefits for caring for the same individual. If you are claiming Carer’s Allowance for caring for your son, no one else should be able to claim the carer element of Universal Credit for also caring for him.