Will UC take money off, if my carers allowance get back dated?

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Hi I am wondering if any one can help. Me am receiving universal credit and I am in the process of wait on my carer if I can my carer back date does universal credit take that off my money even tho am intenitle to it

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

Good Evening it’s great to meet you today.

We have got some great info/advice on Benefit’s if that would be helpful????

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Yeah

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

That’s great news!!!!

Shall we start with some info on “U/C” & go from there??????

Here’s the info below for you please please let me know if there’s any problems.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Am already getting u/c and now am wait on me claim for carer allowance all a need to no is when a get it back dated will u/c take that off my money

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

Sorry about that I must apologise!!!!!

Please please leave it with me & I will get back to you “ASAP”

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Okay thanks cUse if there going to take the money a get back dated from carer that disgusted tht as am entitled to tht money and am going to get left short

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

I have found some U/C info for you below.

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/other-financial-support

Please please let me know if you want me to go through it with you????

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Yeah but that don't tell me if there going to take my uc off is wen a gete carer allowance back dated

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

I’m very very sorry please please leave it with me??????

Sharon1994 · December 2018

steve51 · December 2018

[email protected]

I have gone through the info available but there is nothing about your question sorry!!!!

Another thing that may be helpful is our “Benefit Calculator”

That will give us a good idea??????

Don’t worry we have got some more help to try!!!!!!

Sharon1994 · December 2018

OK justba can't find anything ever

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

Don’t worry we will sort something out for you!!!!

Shall we go through the forms tomorrow together as it is now when I drop to the floor.

Please please let me know when you are available tomorrow to go through things ???

Don’t worry as I will be here for you!!!!!

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Ave Al ready do the form for uc and carer allowance all a need to no if the going to take me uc of is in Jan wens received my back dated carer

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

Ok as far as I can see then it looks like no they won’t!!!!!

Sharon1994 · December 2018

OK thank

Sharon1994 · December 2018

So when a get my back dated carer allowance next month a still get my normal payment of uc

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

Yes as far as I can see at present but I will double check with our “Benefit Advisors” on Monday for you !!!!!

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Thank x

steve51 · December 2018

Hi @Sharon1994

No Probs it’s my Pleasure 😇😇

poppy123456 · December 2018

When claiming Carers allowance and UC together then your carers allowance will be fully deducted from your UC monthly payment. The amount that is deducted is £259 per month. This is because you'll be paid £64.30 per week separately by carers allowance and you can't be paid this money twice.

UC should then add a carers element of £156 per month to your UC payment. In total you'll be £156 per month better off.

Sharon1994 · December 2018

Ave already been on the phone to uc if a get 750 back date carer allowance as a haven't been paid any yet they can only touch 279 off my uc as tht wat a wud be getting a month of carer they can't take my full uc off is wen a get carer allowance back date

poppy123456 · December 2018

Have you been claiming UC for the whole of that time?

Sharon1994 · December 2018

A been cloam it for year and hLf a hVent even had my first payment of carer yet and already spoken to them

poppy123456 · December 2018

The carers allowance will not be back dated because you're already claiming UC and you can't be paid carers allowance twice. You will have a carers element added to your UC of £156 per month but be careful because they don't backdate the carers element either.

Sharon1994 · December 2018

A no for a fact they do as me mam was cliam carer and uc together and she got it back

poppy123456 · January 2019

When you claim carers allowance and UC together they deduct the whole of the carers allowance from the UC. You'll then receive the carers element in your UC payment. See link and scroll down to carers allowance and universal credit.

https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/benefits-entitlements/carers/carers-allowance#

jackiedflz · January 2019

I'm confused too I claimed uc on the 10th Jan but my carers is backdated from 7th nov will uc take my backdated money of carers

poppy123456 · January 2019

jackiedflz said:

I'm confused too I claimed uc on the 10th Jan but my carers is backdated from 7th nov will uc take my backdated money of carers

No, because you didn't claim UC until 10 Jan. Payments after this date will be deducted from your UC monthly amount. Don't forget to make sure that UC add the carers element to your UC monthly amount.

estherolivia · March 2019

Hiya I’ve just been backdated carers allowance I am terrified there going to take 750 out my universal credit what happened with you

jackiedflz · March 2019

I was on income support and I was getting the disabled element paid so I didn't get any back money but if you have been on universal and have not been getting the £156 carers element then you should get the back money off carers allowance.

poppy123456 · March 2019

estherolivia said:

Hiya I’ve just been backdated carers allowance I am terrified there going to take 750 out my universal credit what happened with you

If you've been claiming UC the whole time then the money you received from carers allowance will be an over payment, minus the carers element. You need to ring UC and tell them you're claiming carers allowance because it's deducted £1 for £1 from your UC payments.

NJDM · April 2020

I have been on the following -

UC - Since April 2019

I have recently just been awarded Carers Allowance which was backdated from Dec 2019 to March 2020.
My April UC of this year 2020 was reduced from 409 to 123, which I understand and this will happen each month to my UC going forward. But I would like to know what happens to my backdated pay I just received - Is my situation overpayment & why would they reward me this in the first place if that is the case ?

Any clarification would be good - Many thanks

Adrian_Scope · April 2020

Hello @NJDM.
Can I just check, have they added the carer element on to your UC (£160.20) as well as taking the deduction for overlapping Carer's Allowance?

The system will pick up the backdated Carer's Allowance and it will be issued as an overpayment, so will be sent as a debt to debt management and then recovered from your future UC payments.

NJDM · April 2020

Adrian_Scope said:

Hello @NJDM.
Can I just check, have they added the carer element on to your UC (£160.20) as well as taking the deduction for overlapping Carer's Allowance?
Nope wasnt aware of that - so 160 on top of the normal UC - £407 ?
They only took 1 deduction from this current month and left with me £123 ?
Little confused now

The system will pick up the backdated Carer's Allowance and it will be issued as an overpayment, so will be sent as a debt to debt management and then recovered from your future UC payments.

Why did they award this to me in first place and just pay what I was entitled to, instead of all the messing. Its good job Ive put the money to one side, but still not the wiser on what I should be getting going forward.....

Adrian_Scope · April 2020

Hi @NJDM.
Sorry for the confusion, I'm going to try and clear it up for you.

On your statement does it say "Standard Allowance: £409". As you are a carer, you should also receive the Carer Element. This is currently £160.20 (but is set to increase slightly from next month).

So under your standard allowance should be another section called Carer Element.

If this isn't on your statement, you need to contact them as it should be. It may be that you need to report being a carer to them. But if you get in touch they can let you know if there's anything you need to do to sort this out.

Going forward, your amounts should be:

Single over 25: £409.89
Carer Element: £160.20 (increasing to £162.92)

Then deductions of £291.42 because you are receiving Carer's Allowance and it is classed as an overlapping benefit.

Does that make sense?

NJDM · April 2020

So I'll be worse off for caring for my own mum who is 82. Surely I'm getting this wrong ?
I'll check my UC now and see if anything has been updated.

NJDM · April 2020

I have told UC about the change on 15th April this month so I guess the added CA will be added next month. I just can't get my head round being worse off ?

This is.my latest statement from the 21st April.

Firefly123 · April 2020

I've been researching this today it's better to not claim carers allowance and claim the caring element of uc which means you get your whole uc with the carers eminent added on as yes they take £1 for every £1 when it's carers allowance.

NJDM · April 2020

It's an absolute joke especially in these times !

NJDM · April 2020

So going off that info
I would get
CA = 286 +
UC = 123
Total = 409
So not worse off 👍

But ignore the caring added element as that would leave me with £280
In total with that.

409+162= 571
- 292
= 280 ?

Firefly123 · April 2020

It's rather complex isn't it and makes no sense if it would leave you worse off

Adrian_Scope · April 2020

Hello @NJDM. Your second calculation is correct, as the first is missing the carer element.

Your statement you've shown is missing the carer element, and since they are deducting Carer's Allowance, this should be added on. You may want to get in touch with them to query it.

Overall, claiming CA/CE should leave you around £162 a month better off. Carer's Allowance is deducted £ for £ as it is an overlapping benefit, but you then receive the carer premium through the carer element, which increases your overall income.

There are some advantages to claiming Carer's Allowance:
It's paid more frequently which can be a benefit to some people when juggling budgets and it makes higher NI contributions for you. Claimants in Scotland also receive an additional premium twice a year.

NJDM · April 2020

Adrian_Scope said:

Hello @NJDM. Your second calculation is correct, as the first is missing the carer element.

Your statement you've shown is missing the carer element, and since they are deducting Carer's Allowance, this should be added on. You may want to get in touch with them to query it.

Overall, claiming CA/CE should leave you around £162 a month better off. Carer's Allowance is deducted £ for £ as it is an overlapping benefit, but you then receive the carer premium through the carer element, which increases your overall income.

There are some advantages to claiming Carer's Allowance:
It's paid more frequently which can be a benefit to some people when juggling budgets and it makes higher NI contributions for you. Claimants in Scotland also receive an additional premium twice a year.

Ello Adrian,

I do appreciate your response & info, but could you do me a favour from the info and figures I have given you, could break it down and show me how I would be better off as I only see I will be same or worse off ??

Many thanks

Adrian_Scope · April 2020

Hi @NJDM.

I'm going to use the new figures so that it reflects what you should see next month (but it means they're a few pound different to what you've got currently).

If you didn't claim carer's allowance or carer element, your Universal Credit should be:

Standard allowance: £409.89
Total monthly income: £409.89

If you claimed Universal Credit and just the carer element of Universal Credit, you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Total monthly income: £572.81

If you claimed Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Deduction from Universal Credit for overlapping benefit: -£291.42
Total income from Universal Credit: £281.39
PLUS:
Carer's Allowance: £67.25 per week (or £291.42 a month)
Total monthly income: £572.81

So by claiming as a carer, you should receive £572.81 a month, but if you didn't claim as a carer, you would receive £409.89.

I hope that helps, but if I've not been clear, let me know.

NJDM · April 2020

Adrian_Scope said:

Hi @NJDM.

I'm going to use the new figures so that it reflects what you should see next month (but it means they're a few pound different to what you've got currently).

If you didn't claim carer's allowance or carer element, your Universal Credit should be:

Standard allowance: £409.89
Total monthly income: £409.89

If you claimed Universal Credit and just the carer element of Universal Credit, you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Total monthly income: £572.81

If you claimed Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Deduction from Universal Credit for overlapping benefit: -£291.42
Total income from Universal Credit: £281.39
PLUS:
Carer's Allowance: £67.25 per week (or £291.42 a month)
Total monthly income: £572.81

So by claiming as a carer, you should receive £572.81 a month, but if you didn't claim as a carer, you would receive £409.89.

I hope that helps, but if I've not been clear, let me know.

Hi Adrian,

That has helped a lot and I think I get it now.

So the important thing for me is I will not be worse off.

The question is will this be sorted by UC automatically or do I have to enquire and tell them ?

Basically by what you are saying they should owe me the carer element from this month gone (April) ?

Also going back to the backdated Carer allowance I received which did overlap with UC from Dec-March, will that be counted as an overpayment and I will have to pay that back ? Thinking on, would the carer element would of been included in that backdated payment ? I would like to know and be prepared in advance what I have to pay back so I dont get caught out and end up with next to nothing....Would you be able to help with this ?

Many thanks

NJDM.

NJDM · May 2020

NJDM said:

Adrian_Scope said:

Hi @NJDM.

I'm going to use the new figures so that it reflects what you should see next month (but it means they're a few pound different to what you've got currently).

If you didn't claim carer's allowance or carer element, your Universal Credit should be:

Standard allowance: £409.89
Total monthly income: £409.89

If you claimed Universal Credit and just the carer element of Universal Credit, you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Total monthly income: £572.81

If you claimed Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance you should receive:
Standard allowance: £409.89
Carer element: £162.92
Deduction from Universal Credit for overlapping benefit: -£291.42
Total income from Universal Credit: £281.39
PLUS:
Carer's Allowance: £67.25 per week (or £291.42 a month)
Total monthly income: £572.81

So by claiming as a carer, you should receive £572.81 a month, but if you didn't claim as a carer, you would receive £409.89.

I hope that helps, but if I've not been clear, let me know.

Hi Adrian,

That has helped a lot and I think I get it now.
So the important thing for me is I will not be worse off.

The question is will this be sorted by UC automatically or do I have to enquire and tell them ?

Basically by what you are saying they should owe me the carer element from this month gone (April) ?

Also going back to the backdated Carer allowance I received which did overlap with UC from Dec-March, will that be counted as an overpayment and I will have to pay that back ? Thinking on, would the carer element would of been included in that backdated payment ? I would like to know and be prepared in advance what I have to pay back so I dont get caught out and end up with next to nothing....Would you be able to help with this ?

Many thanks
NJDM.

Adrian_Scope - Bump ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Look up ty

Adrian_Scope · May 2020

Sorry I didn't spot this @NJDM.
Yes, the backdated Carer's Allowance will be considered an overpayment from UC and will be deducted as a debt out of future UC payments. How much they deduct each month will depend on what else you are currently paying back from UC (advances, other overpayments etc) as this amount is capped.

You'll also have the deduction for on-going Carer's Allowance as we've discussed above.

But they should then add on the carer element. If you've reported the change for this via your online account (via Homepage, report a change, caring for someone) then they should add the carer element on for you.

katie2020 · May 2020

Hey not sure if it makes a difference and I can’t answer your question. However I was looking myself yesterday to see if anything from UC will be backdated which is how I ended up here and there is a lot of misleading info on the internet. They will backdate your carer element to the date you claimed as I received notification of this myself this morning 🙂 hope that helps a little bit

NJDM · May 2020

Adrian_Scope said:

Sorry I didn't spot this @NJDM.
Yes, the backdated Carer's Allowance will be considered an overpayment from UC and will be deducted as a debt out of future UC payments. How much they deduct each month will depend on what else you are currently paying back from UC (advances, other overpayments etc) as this amount is capped.

You'll also have the deduction for on-going Carer's Allowance as we've discussed above.

But they should then add on the carer element. If you've reported the change for this via your online account (via Homepage, report a change, caring for someone) then they should add the carer element on for you.

Hi Adrian,

I have put the back payment to one side just in case this would happen

So could I not just give it back ?

I have told UC that I am claiming CA and have made the change on my online account, so will see what happens on my statement from the 17th May, if they have made the changes as you said. Seems all bit of a mess to me the way its done

If I have any issues or enquiries, which I got the feeling there will be, ill post again lol.

Thanks

NJDM · May 2020

katie2020 said:

Hey not sure if it makes a difference and I can’t answer your question. However I was looking myself yesterday to see if anything from UC will be backdated which is how I ended up here and there is a lot of misleading info on the internet. They will backdate your carer element to the date you claimed as I received notification of this myself this morning 🙂 hope that helps a little bit

Thanks Katie

that is good to know. Did they do this automatically or did you have to prompt them ?

katie2020 · May 2020

They done it automatically I knew nothing about it until they said

NJDM · May 2020

katie2020 said:

They done it automatically I knew nothing about it until they said

Ok cool lets see what happens with me

So if you don't mind me asking are you better off, the same or worse off with getting the combined ?

katie2020 · May 2020

I’m better off but that may be because I was affected by the benefit cap before

NJDM · May 2020

Looks like mine has been sorted and what Adrian said would happen

I am basically better off with the joint UC & CA.
Only thing now is wait for the contact to say they overpaid me on the backdated payment

How long do you have to wait ?

Adrian_Scope · May 2020

I believe the majority of the debt management staff have been redeployed to help with new UC claims, so it may be some time before you're contacted.
If they decide you've been overpaid (I've replied to your PM regarding this), they'll set up an arrangement to take the overpayment back in instalments from your future UC. There is a cap on how much they are allowed to deduct and the repayments are negotiable too.

Rhodie72 · June 2020

With CA and backdaterd payments they usually say how much you're going to be allowed in total then deduct what they actually calculate as an overpayment before stating what you will be paid as a settlement amount.

I was told I was entitled to £1187 but only received £542 with the difference being an overpayment due to ESA

already received

NJDM · June 2020

I had no sort of communication like that, just backdated payment during UC period. But I have put it to one side and would like to know how much of it is overpaid so I can just give straight back without the messing.....

Will UC take money off, if my carers allowance get back dated?

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