carers allowance

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diane1981
diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
in Universal Credit (UC)
if i am on universal credit and apply for carers allowance as i look after a relative, do they take the carers allowance money off my universal credit money or would i get both amounts

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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    HI,

    The carers allowance would be deducted £1 for £1 from the UC payment.

    You don't need to claim carers allowance to receive the carers element of UC. The only advantage to receiving carers allowance when claiming UC is that carers allowance pays class 1 NI credits.

    You also need to make sure that the relative isn't receiving severe disability premium (SDP) because if they are claiming carers allowance or the carers element can affect their SDP.
  • diane1981
    diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
    whats the carers element ? i dont understand this universal credit, sorry. she gets pension credits and attendance allowance

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Carers element is paid to those that care for someone for at least 35 hours per week and is part of UC. I just answered your other thread here. https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/61332/please-help#latest

    You need to check exactly what benefits your gran is claiming because if you claim carers allowance or carers element this could affect the benefits she maybe claiming.

    Please try to keep your questions in one thread because it's very difficult to give advice on multiple threads, it's difficult to keep up and it becomes confusing.

  • diane1981
    diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
    So I could claim carers element and that doesn't effect the universal credit payment
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    It won't affect it no but you really need to find out exactly what benefits your gran is claiming because if you claim the carers element then this could seriously affect any benefits she's claiming. Does she currently live alone?
  • diane1981
    diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
    Yes she get pension credit and attendance allowance 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    If she lives alone she's most likely claiming severe disability premium in with her pension credit. If you claim carers allowance or the carers element then she will lose the severe disability premium and potentially all of her pension credit plus other benefits too.

    Both of you really do need to speak to your local CAB for a full benefits check
  • diane1981
    diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
    OK thanx, I won't bother applying for it, we don't have a can in our area anymore either
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    No problem. Ask her to have a look at her pension credit award and it will give you a break down of exactly what she's claiming for with that.

    Please do request the mandatory reconsideration for the ESA decision but be aware if you claim UC then you won't be able to go back onto ESA.
  • diane1981
    diane1981 Online Community Member Posts: 57 Contributor
    They told me last payment would b Monday, so if I do the MR I will have nothing til they make a decision and last time it took months.  Also if go on uc will I have to spend 35 hr looking for work even though I have a 2 year old and no child care. I really don't know how am going to cope. I have no child care and he can't go to nursery til he's 3 how am I gonna take a on job
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    There's no timescales for MR decisions, some take a couple of weeks, others take several weeks. If it gets to Tribunal you'll be able to go back onto assessment rate of ESA, if you don't claim UC.

    If you claim UC then you can and should still request the MR/Tribunal for the ESA decision.

    If you're claiming housing benefit this will also stop. You need to contact your local council to fill out a nil income form and then it will continue while you wait for the MR decision.

    If you claim UC there's a 5 week wait for your first payment but you can ask for an advance payment. If you ask for this, it will need to be repaid back from your future UC payments and they will be reduced each month until it's repaid.

    Child tax credits will stop and it will transfer to UC. You'll receive a 2 week run on of housing benefit and then it will transfer to UC and be paid as 1 monthly payment. You will need to claim council tax reduction separately because it's not part of UC.

    As you have a 2 year old child you won't be ask to look for work for 35 hours per week. You'll be placed into the work preparation group. In this group you will be expected to take reasonable steps to prepare for work, such as attending a skills assessment, preparing a CV, participating in training or an employment programme, and undertaking work experience or a work placement.

    You can also continue to send in fit/sick notes from your GP but this will trigger another work capability assessment at some point in the very near future.

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