Hi, my name is jimW! Is this UC calculation correct?

jimW

Just a wee query,i have caring for my mother for a year,and now she gets attendance allowance i have applied for carers allowance(which i have had no confirmation yet of outcome)so today was informed by uc that i was in receipt of it and gave me £163 in carers element but have deducted £292!does anyone know if this is correct?also if i backdated it would that mean i owed them £129 a month?because that's how it seems to me,no other payments this month so my finances not affected,any answers appreciated,Thanks,Jim W

poppy123456

Hi,

When claiming Carers Allowance as well as UC the carers allowance is deducted from your UC, which is correct. The deduction worked out on paper is £67.60 x 52/12 = £292 because carers allowance is a weekly benefit and UC is monthly.

Carers allowance then pay you the £67.60 per week separately.

In total you are £163.73 per month better off.

If you asked for the carers allowance to be backdated you will receive the backdated money from Carers allowance. However, you will then have an overpayment from UC which will need to be repaid back. You can either keep the backdated money to one side and pay it straight back to them or your future UC payments will be reduced further to pay the money back that's owed.

Just so that you're aware, you don't need to claim Carers Allowance to be entitled to Carers element of UC.