carer element. backdated or not?

camber993

Hi, looking for some advise please.
I have cared for my disabled wife for the last 6 months, she has osteoarthritis and has mobility issues and is waiting for ops to fix her hips, then knees. 
She was assessed and awarded PIP (daily living and mobility) in march '19, backdated to dec '18, and I was awarded carer allowance in April '19 backdated to Jan '19.
Then, of course, the DWP snatched back the carers allowance, the backdated part too, and the carer element came into the picture but it's not backdated, which seems odd. 
I've searched and read lots of info regarding this and it seems to be an area the the DWP like to wriggle out of, with many saying it should backdate to when PIP claim was started, or when the allowance was started, and I want to appeal but I'm becoming confused and need to be sure of the facts, so any advise is very welcome. TIA.

poppy123456

Hi,

I'm afraid i can find anything related to this so i can't advise you whether it's backdated or not. Seems logical that it should be but with UC nothing is logical. Is the carers element already added to your UC? If so have you asked for them to backdate it?

camber993

Hi poppy

Yes, I've asked, but they say its not backdated to when my CA started, but I'm trying to find out why, and if they are making a mistake.
I read comments on moneysavingexpert forum https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5985479&highlight=carer+element, and the rightsnet forum https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/14133/#66561, from people who have had a similar experience, saying it should be dated from the start of PIP claim. 

poppy123456

I would do what it advises in the money saving expert forum link. It doesn't make sense to me why they say it's not backdated because you can't apply for something before the award of the qualifying benefit is made. Totally ridiculous. Good luck.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @camber993, welcome to the community.
The carer's element should be backdated. When did you update them with the information you were now caring for your wife and did you request for it to be backdated when making the change? Have they officially (by letter) said they won't backdate carer's element? Whether they have or not will affect what your next steps should be.

camber993

Adrian_Scope said:

Hi @camber993, welcome to the community.
The carer's element should be backdated. When did you update them with the information you were now caring for your wife and did you request for it to be backdated when making the change? Have they officially (by letter) said they won't backdate carer's element? Whether they have or not will affect what your next steps should be.

Hi Adrian, thanks for your comments.
My original info to UC was that I was caring for my disabled wife, there is a journal entry on 4th Jan which confirms. At the time, PIP was still mid application, and wasn’t yet awarded, so my Carer status wasn’t verified yet.
i’ve not had a letter to say that it won’t be backdated, but there is a journal entry from UC saying that they don’t backdate in line with carers allowance. 
Live asked for a mandatory reconsideration, so it can hopefully be looked at by a decision maker, and hopefully it will get corrected. If not, I’m told there is an appeal procedure. Wish me luck!

Adrian_Scope

Hi @camber993, have you heard anything more on this? 

camber993

Thanks for asking Adrian, it’s now in mandatory reconsideration mode, and can take 28 days,  ???. I’ll let you know ?

Adrian_Scope

Hopefully it will be much quicker for you @camber993!

camber993

Still got no update if anyone is wondering, will post when I hear anything...zzzzzzzz.

Adrian_Scope

Sorry you're still waiting @camber993, hopefully not too much longer!

camber993

Hi Hart, it’s an entry on my journal, on 17th May it says that’s it has gone for mandatory reconsideration, but I’ve had no formal letter as yet.

camber993

Update.
It's been 53 days now, waiting for a reply from a decision maker for a process that has a guideline of 28 days.
What's gone wrong?
I did chase it up on my journal after 35 days, and was told it can take longer than 28 days which I assumed to mean an extra week or two.  

poppy123456

The guideline, is just that...a guideline. There's no timescales for any decision.

camber993

Now resolved. CE to be backdated to January, and it was blamed on a data input error.
It took 75 days and the guideline is 28 days. Not good, but I got my entitlement eventually.

Chloe_Alumni

I'm glad it has now been resolved @camber993

Adrian_Scope

Brilliant, I'm glad it's finally sorted for you @camber993! 

Charlotte2020

@camber993
Hi.. I have just jumped in on this post so my apologies about that. I have been searching for sometime for a bit of Info on carers allowance and universal credit. I'm worried that when I get my back payment from ca that they will literally take the whole lot out of my uc monthly payment? After reading your comments I can work out that it is what they do! I wish I never went for it now, it seems pretty pointless to me.
Also just wondered whether you have to ring and request the carers Ellement? Or does it go automatically? Hope this reaches you
Charlotte. 

poppy123456

Charlotte2020 said:

@camber993
Hi.. I have just jumped in on this post so my apologies about that. I have been searching for sometime for a bit of Info on carers allowance and universal credit. I'm worried that when I get my back payment from ca that they will literally take the whole lot out of my uc monthly payment? After reading your comments I can work out that it is what they do! I wish I never went for it now, it seems pretty pointless to me.
Also just wondered whether you have to ring and request the carers Ellement? Or does it go automatically? Hope this reaches you
Charlotte. 

HI and welcome,

When claiming UC there's no financial gain to to carers allowance at the same time because you can claim the carers element of UC without claiming the carers allowance. The carers allowance is deducted in full from your UC amount by the sum of £286 per month.

The carers element isn't always automatically added to your UC amount so you'll need to log onto your journal and report the changes and tell them that you're caring for someone for 35 hours per week, then the element should be added.

Do also be aware that when you receive the backdated money from carers allowance if you've been claiming UC for the whole time then this will mean that all of that money will be an overpayment, so you'll need to repay that back from future UC payments. This means that your UC will be reduced further to pay back the overpayment.

Hope this helps.

camber993

Charlotte2020 said:

@camber993
Hi.. I have just jumped in on this post so my apologies about that. I have been searching for sometime for a bit of Info on carers allowance and universal credit. I'm worried that when I get my back payment from ca that they will literally take the whole lot out of my uc monthly payment? After reading your comments I can work out that it is what they do! I wish I never went for it now, it seems pretty pointless to me.
Also just wondered whether you have to ring and request the carers Ellement? Or does it go automatically? Hope this reaches you
Charlotte. 

Hi Charlotte,

You’ll have discovered that CA is deducted £1 for £1, and backdated too. The Carer Element replaces it, as Poppy says, and it should also be backdated, but they can be a bit awkward about it, as I found out.

They won’t take all of your UC to cover any overpayment, but instead spread the cost over a number of months. 

It’s actually just procedural, and a minor time consuming battle. Ask a coach on your journal to have CE backdated, and if denied, you then request a ‘mandatory reconsideration’ There should hopefully be a note on your journal confirming when you ‘started to care for someone’ which helps with the backdate. The reconsideration process guideline is 28 days, but can take longer as I discovered.

There are advantages to the CA even though it’s deducted. Continued NI contributions is one, and another more knowledgeable expert may expand on other benefits.

Good luck, it takes a little time but you’ll get there. ?

poppy123456

The only benefits to claiming Carers Allowance when claiming UC is that Carers allowance pays class 1 NI Credits and UC pays class 3.