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Carers Allowance and Element

dreamstatexxoo

Hiya everyone, ive recently been awarded PIP enhanced on both in October, my partner applied for carers allowance right after i got awarded and he also put down on his journal that hes caring for me

he's just been paid 7 weeks worth of carers allowance to his bank (which were aware is the backdated sum) hes now wondering about carers element and if he will get backdated for that

i first applied for pip at the end of march in 2023, the reason why it took so long to apply for carers allowance and to actually put in a COC that hes caring for me is that we actually didnt know about it (his work coach is aware that my fiance cares for me however never told us about the carers element and the allowance), we are wondering if he will get backdated any amount for carers element,

we are also wondering if its possible to do ask carers allowance if they can backpay further than 7 weeks as he did put on the form to be backdated from the 27th march 2023 as thats when i applied for pip, but were not entirely sure if he will get anything or not, i did also get awarded standard last year however tribunal upped it to enhanced on both

again he didnt apply sooner as we both were not aware of the extra help we could get

thanks x

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Comments

dreamwarrior

My experience of this was that we got the full carers element backdated to the start of pip after a tribunal awarded both enhanced from only enhanced mobility, We didn't push for carer allowance backdated as this would have been deducted from our universal credit total regardless. We did as you a coc and they looked at the case as to why we were claiming the change so late, till we explained couldn't get carer allowance till I was awarded daily pip,

I'm sure others here can advise better but congrats on the award.

poppy123456

If you were claiming UC for the whole of that time there's no financial gain to claiming Carers allowance (CA) and UC at the same time due to it being deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

As you've had money backdated already for CA then you'll have an overpayment for UC.

The only advantage to claiming CA at the same time is that for CA your partner will receive class 1 NI credits but for UC it's class 3.

Your partner also needs to be aware of the earnings limit for CA if they work now or decide to work in the future. There's no earnings limit to carers element of UC.

dreamstatexxoo

So theyve awarded my fiance carers element however they didnt backdate it to March 2023 - my partner has put a journal message in after receiving a message stating that they cannot backpay unless he gives a good reason for reporting the change later, can someone let me know if this is okay -

The reason I didn't report the COC sooner was because my work coach didn't make me aware of help I could get as a carer (presumably because I was working full-time and earning over the threshold for Carers Allowance).

I found out around September 2024 about Carers Allowance and the carer's element for UC, and saw that they were both the same (where the person who I'm caring for needs to have a qualifying benefit). This is why I only did a COC and applied for Carers Allowance after the person who I'm caring for was awarded high rate PIP on both components in October 8th.

She is also severely mentally and physically disabled as written in the tribunal letter so it was very difficult looking for any further help I could receive before she was awarded especially as I was dealing with my own mental health (hence why I provided fitnotes often)

Marina's own work coach also didn't let Marina know that I could get extra help even though they've been made aware I care for her, all they did was stop giving her appointments before she was awarded PIP and LCWRA.

The people I have seen at the job center have been made aware in person and on the phone about me caring for her and they also didn't tell me about any further help I could receive.

When I did find out about this extra help I still didn't apply until after the tribunal as on the National Carer's Card website ((https://www.nationalcarerscard.org.uk/blog/how-to-apply-for-the-carers-element-of-universal-credit)) they say -

The person you care for receives a qualifying disability benefit such as the middle or highest rate of the Disability Living Allowance care component, the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, or Armed Forces Independence Payment.

Which at that point she didn't have PIP, thats why I waited until after she got awarded.

dreamstatexxoo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/956292#Comment_956292

He added this at the end -

Sorry correction she did get awarded daily living in November 2023, however we didn't apply for CA or CE (Sept 2024) as we weren't sure if the award would get stopped as she went to tribunal to challenge it. I only applied after the award was finalised and she received the confirmation letter.

dreamstatexxoo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/955111#Comment_955111

hiya poppy, are you able to check the above comment i posted

dreamstatexxoo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/954998#Comment_954998

hiya dream warrior, are you able to tell me what reasons you gave for the circumstances

dreamwarrior

The reason we gave was that we were unable to report the change sooner as the entitlement is dependant on being in receipt of daily living of PIP which we didn't get till months after. Given the award was backdated to July 23 then technically we should be entitled to the additional funds. The standard letter came back that we had been assessed and deemed special circumstances and that the monies would be backdated to July 23 from Nov 24.

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/956296#Comment_956296

Has your partner actually received a decision letter on his journal refusing to backdate the carers element? Carers element will be put into payment much quicker than it will take for a decision maker to make a decision on when exactly to award it from.

Then if awarded, any money that's owed will be paid separately to your usual monthly payment.

To be clear, there's also no earnings limit to carers element of UC like there is with carers allowance.