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UC carers element after PIP award
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anxiousbird
Community member Posts: 165 Pioneering
Hi all
I contacted UC to ask whether we’ll now get the carer’s element backdated from the date of PIP claim date but they’ve replied saying that they’ll get back to me once they’ve got a confirmation of award. My questions are:
1) does PIP dept contact UC directly (without asking) to tell them about an award. If so, approx how long does it take for them to notify UC?
I contacted UC to ask whether we’ll now get the carer’s element backdated from the date of PIP claim date but they’ve replied saying that they’ll get back to me once they’ve got a confirmation of award. My questions are:
1) does PIP dept contact UC directly (without asking) to tell them about an award. If so, approx how long does it take for them to notify UC?
2) we never claimed carer’s element as I wasn’t getting PIP, but now that I’ve got an award, will UC backdate it to the PIP start date?
Kind regards
Comments
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With respect to question 2 you will struggle to get backdating unless you previously told them that you were caring. If you did you will get backdating, if not they will likely refuse to backdate but some have been successful challenging this.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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We never formally told them my husband cares for me because they never asked and there was no form where such a question was asked. Although it’s possible we mentioned it in one of our conversations with a work coach. It just seems ridiculous that we should be penalised for for not telling them something which they never asked (or we never thought there was a need, as there was no financial gain from it anyway unless I was getting PIP).Well, let’s see what they say.
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anxiousbird said:We never formally told them my husband cares for me because they never asked and there was no form where such a question was asked. Although it’s possible we mentioned it in one of our conversations with a work coach. It just seems ridiculous that we should be penalised for for not telling them something which they never asked (or we never thought there was a need, as there was no financial gain from it anyway unless I was getting PIP).Well, let’s see what they say.
As you say you will have to see how you get on.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
oh then oh then maybe we will have mentioned it there. UC knew about my disability from the beginning of our claim (last year May) n they had reduced my ‘commitments’ accordingly. We must have mentioned that my husband cared for me, although UC has never discussed anything regarding that in our time with them.
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Has your husband ever been expected to look for work? If not, assuming he isn’t pension age, that may be because the work coach has taken into account that he is caring for you.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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Now that I think about it, my husband never got any appointments through with his work coach, only I used to get a call once a month to ask how I’m doing with my doctors’ appointments etc (as those were my ‘work commitments’ - working with my doctor). My husband was also in teacher training for a few months the past year. He has now got a job though and we’ll be coming off UC soon.
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Are you claiming Carer’s allowance, if you are this will be taken into account on your UC deductions. If you are not officially claiming Carer’s Allowance then there will be no back payments to consider or deductions from your UC payments..PIP is not taken into account on claiming benefits, reference to deductions. To claim Carer’s allowance look on government site and ensure you meet the criteria for claiming.
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wilko said: If you are not officially claiming Carer’s Allowance then there will be no back payments to consider ..
The above assumes that the carer is not already getting the LCWRA element, if they are getting LCWRA then no carer element is payable.
Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
No we weren’t claiming carers allowance. How could we? I wasn’t getting PIP so my husband couldn’t even have been eligible for it!
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look on the government site for Carer’s allowance and see if you meet the criteria for claiming. PIP is not a requirement for claiming Carer’s Allowance.
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@wilko I’ve just check and it says that carers allowance does require the person being cared for to receive atleast one of the disability benefits (out of which I was/am only eligible for one -PIP).
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wilko said: PIP is not a requirement for claiming Carer’s Allowance.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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Meant to include this in my previous reply but got interrupted.
https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibilityThe person you care for
The person you care for must already get one of these benefits:- Personal Independence Payment - daily living component
- Disability Living Allowance - the middle or highest care rate
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
Curious why your asking UC about your carers claim being backdated, ask carers dept instead as they will be paying it and or will know the answer.
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anxiousbird said:No we weren’t claiming carers allowance. How could we? I wasn’t getting PIP so my husband couldn’t even have been eligible for it!
To answer your other question about communication, no, the carers section will mot neccessarily inform UC about your carers claim.
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tru88le said:Curious why your asking UC about your carers claim being backdated, ask carers dept instead as they will be paying it and or will know the answer.tru88le said: To answer your other question about communication, no, the carers section will mot neccessarily inform UC about your carers claim.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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calcotti said:tru88le said:Curious why your asking UC about your carers claim being backdated, ask carers dept instead as they will be paying it and or will know the answer.tru88le said: To answer your other question about communication, no, the carers section will mot neccessarily inform UC about your carers claim.
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anxiousbird said:..Also to add, I wasn’t at any point receiving DLA. This is my first time ever to receive any disability benefit ..Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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