Young person claiming carers allowance

Lulu44

I have been in receipt of PIP since 2018. I’m on a 5 year award. My son is 17 and due to covid he’s struggled to find an apprenticeship so we’ve been supporting him while he’s been at home plus he’s shielding with us until it’s safer. 

He recently claimed for Universal credit and Carers Allowance as he helps care for me during the week. He was granted UC within 2 weeks but we’ve not heard from the carers. He applied for both on the same day. We dated back the claim for carers as he had been caring for me a while before we realised he could claim. 

I know they take carers off UC but if he’s put a back dated date for carers will he receive any of the back pay.? He applied for both on 29th January. He’s asked the DWP when he had his UC interview but they said carers is separate and he will have to wait until they contact him. It’s all very confusing. 

Thanks Lu 

calcotti

If Carer’s Allowance is awarded he will be paid the arrears. CA does often seem to take quite a long time to be awarded although as it’s one of the simpler benefits I don’t understand why.

He may end up being Carer’s Allowance for periods when he has already received UC in which case the UC will have been overpaid.

Lulu44

calcotti said:

If Carer’s Allowance is awarded he will be paid the arrears. CA does often seem to take quite a long time to be awarded although as it’s one of the simpler benefits I don’t understand why.

He may end up being Carer’s Allowance for periods when he has already received UC in which case the UC will have been overpaid.

Thank you. We’ve been so confused. We didn’t know if he would get any back pay. He’s cared for me since September. On the form he could only go back to 29th October.  He out a claim in for Universal Credit and carers allowance both on 29th January. 

I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.  

Lulu44

woodbine said:

worth a read:

https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/universal-credit

Thank you ? 

calcotti

Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.  

The CA will be paid separately to the UC. His UC entitlement will include a carer element. The CA he receives will be deducted from the UC.

At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.

UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.

Lulu44

calcotti said:

Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.  

The CA will be paid separately to the UC. His UC entitlement will include a carer element. The CA he receives will be deducted from the UC.

At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.

UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.

Thank you.

So he will receive £505 a month including UC and the carers element? 

Lulu44

I’m finding this so hard to understand. If he’s entitled to £342 UC the carers element on top is £67 a week so shouldn’t he get the £505?  If he’s claimed CA why is that then taken off making his money even lower? Surely this means no point claiming carers and just plain old UC?

Lulu44

calcotti said:

Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.  

The CA will be paid separately to the UC. His UC entitlement will include a carer element. The CA he receives will be deducted from the UC.

At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.

UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.

Sorry, I just checked his Uc online and his first payment is £505 including carers element. Paid next week. So is this what he will receive each month? It doesn’t mention carers allowance he applied for separate just the UC carers element. Can he just cancel that application for CA and receive the carers element through UC and receive the £505 each month? 

Any help appreciated. 

calcotti

His total benefit income will be £505/month.

Once Carers Allowance is being paid the UC will be reduced by the amount of CA he receives as set out in my earlier post.
At today's rates that will mean CA £270 paid every 4 weeks and UC £214.23 paid monthly.

He can cancel the CA if he wants and will still be entitled to the carer element in UC. Claiming both UC and CA does not increase the total benefit payable. However, as you explained in your own opening post, the advantage of claiming CA was that you could backdate it for three months (which is worth £877) and UC could not be backdated. Claiming CA was therefore a very sensible thing to do. Note also that while claiming CA he gets Class 1 NI credits whereas the UC claim only gives him Class 3. In most cases this is of little significance but in some cases it could be valuable because Class 1 credits count towards more things.

One very important rule to be aware of is the CA earnings rule. If he finds employment he is not entitled to CA if he earns more than £128 so must close the CA claim if that happens. The earnings rule does not apply to UC.

Think also about alternative situations. Lets say he finds some work and earns £100/week. This would not affect his CA claim at all but would reduce his UC entitlement.
If he earned £100/week he would still get CA of £67.50/week making a total of £167.50/week.
If he earned £100/week and was only claiming UC the UC payable would be £232.64/month. The total is £153.68/week which is less.

Lulu44

calcotti said:

His total benefit income will be £505/month.

Once Carers Allowance is being paid the UC will be reduced by the amount of CA he receives as set out in my earlier post.
At today's rates that will mean CA £270 paid every 4 weeks and UC £214.23 paid monthly.

He can cancel the CA if he wants and will still be entitled to the carer element in UC. Claiming both UC and CA does not increase the total benefit payable. However, as you explained in your own opening post, the advantage of claiming CA was that you could backdate it for three months (which is worth £877) and UC could not be backdated. Claiming CA was therefore a very sensible thing to do. Note also that while claiming CA he gets Class 1 NI credits whereas the UC claim only gives him Class 3. In most cases this is of little significance but in some cases it could be valuable because Class 1 credits count towards more things.

One very important rule to be aware of is the CA earnings rule. If he finds employment he is not entitled to CA if he earns more than £128 so must close the CA claim if that happens. The earnings rule does not apply to UC.

Think also about alternative situations. Lets say he finds some work and earns £100/week. This would not affect his CA claim at all but would reduce his UC entitlement.
If he earned £100/week he would still get CA of £67.50/week making a total of £167.50/week.
If he earned £100/week and was only claiming UC the UC payable would be £232.64/month. The total is £153.68/week which is less.

Thank you. I think I understand it better now. Sorry I just find it all so confusing. So if UC have added the carers element now, does that mean carers allowance are still dealing with his claim and he will hear from them separate?

The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay. 

Thank you for all your help. Much appreciated.

calcotti

Lulu44 said: So if UC have added the carers element now, does that mean carers allowance are still dealing with his claim and he will hear from them separate?

The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay. 

CA and UC are processed separately. UC includes the carer element because he is a carer. When the CA is processed he will get the backdated payment from them. He will also be paid by them for a period which overlaps the UC claim. This will mean that UC has been overpaid for that period. Going forward it will settle down and he will get the two separate payments as previously described.

Lulu44

calcotti said:

Lulu44 said: So if UC have added the carers element now, does that mean carers allowance are still dealing with his claim and he will hear from them separate?

The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay. 

CA and UC are processed separately. UC includes the carer element because he is a carer. When the CA is processed he will get the backdated payment from them. He will also be paid by them for a period which overlaps the UC claim. This will mean that UC has been overpaid for that period. Going forward it will settle down and he will get the two separate payments as previously described.

That makes sense. Thank you so much for all your help