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My son

char38

hi. My son claims carers for me he is 19. Can he also claim UC n if so would he have to look for work?

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poppy123456

Hi,

Im assuming he's not a student because full time students can't claim carers allowance.

Yes he can claim UC but the carers allowance will be deducted £1 for £1 from the UC payments.

Under 25 standard allowance for UC is £251.77 per month. He would also receive the carers element of £160.20. Total amount £411.97 - £286.65 (carers allowance) total UC amount = £125.32 per month. Then carers allowance will be received separately to that @ £66.15 per week.

No, he wouldn't have to look for work, he will be placed into the no work requirements group.

char38

So he wont lose his carers allowance he gets now? N no he isnt a student

poppy123456

No but it will be deducted £1 for £1 from the UC amount. There's no financial gain to claiming carers allowance and UC and the only advantage is it pays class 1 NI credits instead of class 3 like UC.

char38

Thought he would b like better off by £29 a week

poppy123456

Full breakdown of what he'll receive is in my calculation above. UC pays monthly, not weekly and first payment will be 5 weeks after he starts his claim.

char38

So he will get about 125 a month off UC plus 66.15 a week of carer allowance

Yes that's correct.

Thanks for ur help

You're welcome.

Hi @char38, I'm glad Poppy has been able to answer this for you.
When your son applies for Universal Credit he needs to make sure he specifies that he's a carer so that the elements can be applied correctly. Good luck to you both and please let us know if we can help with anything else.

char38

He doesnt want to do it.. dont know y. Is there any way i could add him to my claim?

poppy123456

Unfortunately, you can't add him to your claim because he's an adult in his own right and no longer classed as a dependent.

david235

Moreover, as he is capable of managing his affairs, you cannot become his appointee. Ultimately it is his decision, and his alone, whether to claim UC.

The only lever you have is how much you charge him towards household expenses - but you are in a rather weak position here as you depend on him as your carer, also he is giving up potentially more financially lucrative options by being your carer.

One possible way to handle this would be an honest discussion about household income expenses; if he has not lived independently it might come as a shock how expensive everyday things are. You have perhaps lost some money in your benefits for him now that he's no longer a child or a dependant. The extra approximately £30 per week might make a big difference to you both, especially if you are in a position to say that, for now at least, most or all of it would be his to do with as he wishes.

It is, however, his choice and if he refuses to claim, you can't make him do so.

char38

I know i cant. I was thinkin more of him tbh. I dont charge him anything but he also knows his money has to last him the month. He does understand about money etc so its up to him

poppy123456

@david235 there was no mention of becoming an appointee here, so i'm not sure where that came from...

david235

poppy123456 said:

@david235 there was no mention of becoming an appointee here, so i'm not sure where that came from...

For completeness sake, and not because there was any previous mention of it. @char38 cannot add her son to her UC claim as you rightly said, so the only way she could have any involvement in his benefits was as an appointee. As we both know, an adult who is capable of managing his own affairs does not need an appointee and DWP would not entertain an application from anyone seeking to be his appointee. His decisions about benefits are solely down to him.

Adrian_Scope

Hi @char38, has he said why he doesn't want to claim Universal Credit? I find because of all the negative stories in the media etc that some people are very reluctant to claim through fear. If this is his worry it might be worth confirming for him that as he claims Carer's Allowance, this won't change when he applies for Universal Credit. His CA will continue as usual and because he's a carer he won't have any work search or job commitments on UC and other than an initial ID meeting, he shouldn't be required to attend the job centre either.