Carers allowance and UC

jadeXX

My dad has been claiming Carers allowance for me for 3 years he is also on Universal Credit but he gets less money than he would if he was only claiming Universal Credit and no Carers allowance is this right he has rang them many times but can’t make any sense out of it?

calcotti

You need to look at his monthly UC statements. The calculation of the maximum amount should include the carer element of £162.92/ month. The Carer’s Allowance will be deducted from the UC payable.

For a carer he overall amount of benefit payable is the same regardless of whether or not Carer’s Allowance is claimed and is £162.92 more than for someone who is not a carer but is otherwise in the same situation.

jadeXX

He’s never had a Carers element in the 3 years of claiming UC and Carers allowance he was getting £650 UC before claiming Carers allowance and now he gets £350 UC including rent and £67 a week Carers so he actually recieves less than if he wasn’t a carer

mikehughescq

1 - does he get the Carers element of UC? It can be paid down when there’s no CA in payment. 

2 - if he does he can afford to stop claiming CA and UC will then stop deducting it as income. There may be other reasons he wants to keep CA though. 

jadeXX

He’s never had the Carers element that’s why I can’t make sense out of any of it he gets less money than he did before claiming Carers allowance he was getting £650 including rent and he had no Carers allowance or element just normal UC and now claims UC and CA and gets £350 with rent and £67 week CA

jadeXX

So if he was to cancel the Carers allowance he could then recieve the Carers Element instead? 

calcotti

Ignore the Carer’s Allowance - it makes no difference to his overall income if things are done properly.
I suggest he posts a note in the payments section highlighting that he has been receiving Carer’s Allowance since xxxx, that it is being deducted from his UC amount but that the carer element has never been included in his UC calculation. Request DWP review all of his payments since claiming CA and recalculate his entitlement.

Did he actually declare that he is a carer when he claimed UC? If not that may be why it hasn’t been picked up - but even so he should be able to get it revised if Carer’s Allowance has been in payment.

Even without the carer element he shouldn’t be getting less than before, it should amount to the same. The CA is equivalent to £291.41/month so with £350 UC that is £641/month.

mikehughescq

First thing he needs to do is to ask for the Carers Element. Might not be paid depending on other elements. 

jadeXX

Okay thank you he did declare that he was caring for me and also rang today and said that he gets less than he was before he had Carers allowance and that there is no point him claiming it then and she said well that’s entirely upto you and that was that 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @jadeXX, has he double-checked a recent statement to ensure he isn't receiving the carer element? If he isn't, then he should be receiving this as it sounds like he only has his standard allowance and housing element on his claim. 

He needs to be really clear with them and explain that they have deducted Carer's Allowance from his claim so they are aware he is a carer and that he should be receiving the carer element of UC too. 

jadeXX

He finally found out that he was receiving the element and he just didn’t realise so now he owes them £900 as I had a review and my pip stoped so he no longer had Carers allowance I then got my pip back and he reapplied for Carers allowance but it wasn’t being deducted from the UC or something so now he is worse off by about £250 and also owes UC £900 it’s so confusing 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @jadeXX, he shouldn't be worse off by claiming Carer's Allowance.
It is deducted from UC but he still receives CA. UC then add the carer element of £162.92. 

He doesn't have to claim Carer's Allowance to receive the carer element if he would prefer it all came from one source.

For example:

His 'standard allowance' (assuming he's single) on UC would be £409.89 a month. If he didn't claim CA or the carer element this would be all he receives.

If he claims CA, he would receive £67.25 a week from CA (£291.42 a month) and his UC would look like this:
£409.89 standard allowance
£162.92 carer element
-£291.42 CA
= £281.39 Universal Credit. So while this is less than the £409 he received when he only claimed UC, he also has Carer's Allowance so his total income is £572.81

He could also choose to cancel his CA claim and only claim UC with carer element and his income would remain at £572.81.

So his income should definitely be higher by claiming CA (or just the carer element of UC).