Carers Allowance on a zero hours contract?

ifonlythelonely

Hi there,

I just wondered if anyone could give me some advice. I was hoping to claim carers allowance as I am having to look after my dad more & more. I work on a zero hours contract but my hours & wages can fluctuate quite a lot month by month.

My question is can I still claim carers allowance? I'm earning over the £151 a week most weeks in general but certainly not every week. My hours at work will be going down anyway this year as looking after my dad is taking up more & more of my time.

Any advice would be most grateful 🙂

Thanks

poppy123456

As your earnings are over £151/week most weeks you will not be able to claim carers allowance.

Are you claiming any other benefits such as Universal Credit? If so and this doesn't include the LCWRA element for yourself you can claim carers element, which has no earnings limit.

Your dad also needs to be calming a qualify disability benefit such as PIP daily living, DLA mid/high rate care or AA.

If he does claim either of those benefits you also need to make sure he's not claiming Severe disability Premium in another benefit such as Pension Credit or one of the old legacy benefits such as Income Related ESA/JSA or Income Support. If he does and someone claims either carers allowance or carers element of UC for looking after him then the SDP will stop.

ifonlythelonely

Thanks for your quick reply.

Yes I'm on UC at present. Last month was the first month in over half a year that I received any payment as all other months I've been earning over the threshold amount. I only got the payment as I had to turn shifts down to look after my dad more.

Yes my dad already gets Attendance Allowence. So by what you're saying I can go via my UC account and there should be an option to claim for Carers Element via that?

Thanks 🙂

poppy123456

Before I advise have you checked what benefits your dad is currently claiming? Does he live alone?

If he's currently living alone or with a partner that also claims a qualifying disability benefit and they are claiming Pension Credit, the calculation should include Severe disability Premium (known as Severe disability Additional in PC)

As I advised above If you claim carers element of UC or carers allowance for looking after him the SDA will stop, this could then stop Pension Credit, which could affect benefits such as housing benefit and Council Tax Reduction. He could potentially lose a lot of money.

Once you've checked if none of that applies to claim carers element, log into your journal and report a change. Then click caring for someone and report it through there. Carers element is £198.31/month.

ifonlythelonely

My dad did live alone but I moved back in with him 6 months back. So it's just us 2 at the house.

The only benefits he currently gets is Attendance Allowance. He receives his work pension and the state pension but aside from that he is getting no disability payment at all.

The last thing I want is for him/me/us to lose money. But from what you said it seems that I should be safe to apply for the carers element and not affect any other payments my dad gets?

Thanks once again

poppy123456

Thank you for that information. A claim for carers element will not affect any of your benefits in a bad way.

ifonlythelonely

Many thanks for all your help. I shall apply for the carers element tomorrow then.

Whilst on the subject. Do you know of any government funded home help? It's more for the bathing side of things as I'm an only child and have nobody to help me bathe my dad. At present I don't need to but it won't be far off and I can't/won't be able to do it on my own.

Thank you 🙂

Kimmy87

You can ask for a needs assessment (Dad) and carers assessment (you), both can be done at the same time.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/help-from-social-services-and-charities/getting-a-needs-assessment/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/support-and-benefits-for-carers/carer-assessments/

They will look at what help you both need, then do a financial assessment.

ifonlythelonely

Brilliant thanks. I knew about the assessment for my dad but I didn't realise I could get one too. That is very helpful to know.

Thank you 🙂