carers element please help

ComfusedCarer

Hi, I was made redundant from my job at the end of 2020 like many others and because I provide 35+ hours of care a week for my disabled father I made a claim for carers allowance after being made redundant.

All was good untill about 4 months into my claim my dad got his SDP stopped and was ordered to pay back 4 months worth of SDP. I was horrified I had no idea this would happen so I immediately phoned and cancelledy claim for carers allowance as the advisor told me on the phone that was what's needed in order for my dad to have his SDP reinstated.

I also received a carers element in my universal credit and I assumed at the time that because I stopped claiming carers allowance that the carers element would stop how ever when my next UC statement was sent to me I was shocked to see it still on there. I queried about this at my local job centre and after finding someone in there that actually even knew what carers elemt was they told me it's fine it is right and not to worry because I am entitled to claiming carers allowance I can get this top up but I do not need too receive carers allowance to get this top up.

After the conversation with my local jobcentre and my father having his SDP reinstated I just assumed it was the carers allowance affecting his claim for SDP so I have for the past 6 months happily claimed carers element along with my dad receiving his SDP having absolutely no clue that apparently carers element can also affect my dad's SDP😑

My auntie who used to be a carer for her mother made me aware and I started searching online and some websites like turn2us say that carers element will stop the cared for persons SDP how ever entitledto states the opposite claiming that only carers allowance will affect SDP and carers element will not. I am really confused. I am a pit of nerves now and I am really worried about the situation. I don't understand how a top up off £37 weekly can strip my father off his £67 premium. If true and his SDP is affected by the carers element then what is the point in either carers allowance or carers element if you do not live with the person you lose money and not gain, how is that possible?

Also in that 6 month period I have worked part time jobs and have sometimes received £0 for my universal credit or little amount like £60 so would they still be able to recover his SDP for those months?

ComfusedCarer

poppy123456

The Turn to Us website is correct and Entitled to is incorrect. Claiming either carers allowance or carers element of UC will affect your dads SDP.

The carers element is not a top up as such, it's an element that's part of UC and has the same eligibility rules as carers allowance (apart from the earnings limit)

ComfusedCarer said:

If true and his SDP is affected by the carers element then what is the point in either carers allowance or carers element if you do not live with the person you lose money and not gain, how is that possible?

Not sure what you mean by this. The criteria for claiming SDP is very specific and someone claiming either carers element or carers allowance affects the SDP and means they're not entitled to it.

ComfusedCarer said:

Also in that 6 month period I have worked part time jobs and have sometimes received £0 for my universal credit or little amount like £60 so would they still be able to recover his SDP for those months?

It may still be recoverable because i'm not sure how either of you can choose which months he can receive the SDP. Others may know the answer to this.

ComfusedCarer

The entitledto website should be notified that it is wrong. it is the top of the calculators to work out bennefits on gov.co.uk

Why did they reinstate his SDP if I was already getting the caring element? So confusing the whole benefits system is a shambles with misleading information everywhere you look

poppy123456

If your dad receiving the SDP was an offical error then any overpayment will not be recoverable. They should have done their checks before awarding him the SDP that no one was claiming either carers element or Carers allowance for looking after him. If they had checked properly they would have seen your carers element claim.

janer1967

My understanding is dad was already getting sdp and then the op was made redundant so started claiming carers 

I might be getting mixed up here 

ComfusedCarer

They stopped his claim and ordered him to pay back 4 months worth off sdp. They actually phoned me up too lete know that they can now see I have stopped claiming carers allowance so will reinstate his SDP and that it was all cleared up now. 

I had thought that I would also stop receiving the element automatically as at the time I thought you had to receive carers allowance to receive the carers element.

So what should I do? I am scared to notify them should I just stop claiming carers element and let that be it. Because as you say it seems to be a fault on their end and I'm at fault for pure ignorance only

ComfusedCarer

He's also received a letter at the begining of February letting him know off his entitlements for the year and the SDP was on there so I am doubly confused as that means he's been checked twice whilst I've been in receipt off carers element

calcotti

It is his responsibility to tell whichever benefit he gets whether or not someone claims CA or the carer element of UC for looking after him. He has been overpaid and it is not official error if he did not inform them. The sooner you either get the carer element or SDP stopped the better, the longer you leave it the larger the overpayment will be.

calcotti

ComfusedCarer said:

If the above is from entitledto website which you said was incorrect then you have misread it. The information is correct. The last paragraph clearly states that the SDP will be lost if you start claiming CA or the UC carer element. The bit in brackets says that if you are entitledto CA but not receiving it the SDP is not affected but that doesn’t mean that getting the carer element of UC will not affect it. (There are other situations when people who are not on UC can claim CA but not be paid it, such as a person receiving a State Pension, and this will not affect the SDP of the person care s for.)

calcotti

ComfusedCarer said:

If true and his SDP is affected by the carers element then what is the point in either carers allowance or carers element if you do not live with the person you lose money and not gain, how is that possible? 

Many people, possible most, being looked after are not entitled to SDP so the question doesn’t arise.

In cases where the carer is not on means tested benefits, if they claim CA they get the same amount of money as the caree loses so they can effectively choose who gets paid the money

It is only in cases like yours where the carer is also claiming a means tested benefit that they get less money than the cared for person loses.