Carers allowance and respite care

pattyanne

Hi

Can anyone tell what "the rules" are regarding carers allowance and Respite.

I claim ca for my adult son. He receives direct payments, including a respite budget.

How many nights respite can he take before this would affect my carers allowance.

Ive read some where that I have to provide care for 35 hours in a week and something else which mentions 4 weeks in any 26 weeks. Just finding very confusing and at the stage where I darent even book anything!

Thank You

Rosie_Scope

Hi @pattyanne, welcome to the community. Generally the advice is you can take a break for up to four weeks per six months. So that can be a few days at a time here and there, as long as you don't go over the 4 weeks limit within a six-month period.

If you're worried about it, you could try calling the Carer's Allowance Unit to see if they can help put your mind at ease. The details are here: https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance-unit ☺️