CARERS ALLOWANCE

Karerhome

HI all my partner gets limited capability for work ( we waited 3 months). I get  uc and benefits for 2 dependants. My partner was  awarded pip in august backdated from April. Are these benefits except from deductions? I earn £45 a week and i have applied for carers allowance. I noticed carer premium on my most recent UC statement. Does this mean i wont get carers allowance?  

Many thanks

April2018mom

Hello @Karerhome
Use this benefits calculator at https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators to work out what to expect. 

Karerhome

Thank you 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @Karerhome and welcome to the community!

No it doesn’t mean you won’t get Carer’s Allowance, it’s separate to UC. However, Carer’s Allowance is deducted £ for £ from Universal Credit at a monthly average of £286. You’ll then receive the carers element (premium) of £160 with your Universal Credit. So overall it adds £160 to your total income. 

PIP is not means tested and won’t make a difference to your Universal Credit. I hope that helps but if you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask. 

April2018mom

This factsheet should answer your questions
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/carers-allowance

Karerhome

Hi Adrian so what you are saying is ca will pay me £66 weekly then when i get my uc they will deduct £264, even though my income from work including carers is less than £123 a week. They will then add carers premium to my uc £160 monthly. So ill be worse off. 

Karerhome

If they take £264 from one hand Then Give £160 in another thats a loss not a gain.

poppy123456

UC deduct £289 per month from your UC amount because CA is paid weekly and worked out as a monthly payment it's £289.

You won't be any worse off, you'll be £160 per month better off because you'll be claiming the carers element.

There's no financial gain to claiming carers allowance and UC. The only addition is that CA pay class 1 NI and UC pay class 3.

Adrian_Scope

Hi again, you won’t be worse off but you’ll get less UC than you used to, as you’ll be getting Carer’s Allowance separately.

Your Universal Credit will have the Carer’s Element of £160 per month added on. They will then deduct £286 from your UC total due to you receiving Carer’s Allowance separately. You’ll receive the £66 weekly Carer’s Allowance separately, not as part of your UC payment, which is why it’s deducted.

You won’t have anything deducted from your UC for your wages because they’re below the work allowance. 

Overall, once you’re claiming Carer’s Allowance and the carer’s element premium, you’ll be £160 a month better off.
It’s worth noting that you can claim the carer’s element of UC without claiming Carer’s Allowance, but claiming CA gives you better NI contributions. 

Adrian_Scope

Karerhome said:

If they take £264 from one hand Then Give £160 in another thats a loss not a gain.

They’re only taking it off from your UC total, but you’re still actually getting it, you just get it separately from Carer’s Allowance instead of Universal Credit.

Your overall total income will be £160 higher, just your UC individually will appear lower. 

Karerhome

Are there any examples when CA does not affect your UC?

poppy123456

Karerhome said:

Are there any examples when CA does not affect your UC?

CA is always deducted £1 for £1 from a UC amount. Just so you're aware they don't always automatically add the carers element, for this you'll need to report changes on your journal and then it will be added.

Adrian_Scope

Unfortunately it always affects your UC, it’s classed as an overlapping benefit and is deducted £ for £ in all cases. It was the same for income-related legacy benefits too, just not done as obviously. 

Karerhome

Ok great i fully understand this now. And ill be prepared for a deduction if carers allowance is awarded.

also if ca backdate to april as the pip was this will all be deducted from my Uc. 

So if Ca pay £1000 for example included backdate pay i need to be mindful this will all be deducted from my next uc payment.

Adrian_Scope

This depends on how they handle the backdating. Sometimes, they won’t pay it because you’ve technically already had it on Universal Credit, this is the easiest option as it means you don’t have an overpayment.

If they do pay it to you, they won’t request it back in full in your next UC payment. It will be considered an overpayment and they will set up a repayment plan with you to recover it from future UC payments at a reasonable instalment.

You mentioned the carer element premium is on your most recent statement, when you reported being a carer to UC did you put the date of change as the date PIP was awarded from? The carer element premium should technically be backdated to then too. 

Karerhome

Hi yes i did put the april date and i have asked for a mandatory reconsideration. I have notes in my journal where i notified them a few times even before the pip was awarded that i was a carer but it was stagnant in my UC. Hopefully the will take that into consideration that i was notifying them. On at least 3 occasions, and face to face.

Karerhome

In fact i put the april date then i left a note to my work coach saying i have put april date becuase that was when we applied for pip but i had been caring since october 2018. 

Adrian_Scope

That’s good @Karerhome, hopefully you’ll hear back quickly!