Young person claiming carers allowance
Lulu44
Community member Posts: 9 Listener
I have been in receipt of PIP since 2018. I’m on a 5 year award. My son is 17 and due to covid he’s struggled to find an apprenticeship so we’ve been supporting him while he’s been at home plus he’s shielding with us until it’s safer.
He recently claimed for Universal credit and Carers Allowance as he helps care for me during the week. He was granted UC within 2 weeks but we’ve not heard from the carers. He applied for both on the same day. We dated back the claim for carers as he had been caring for me a while before we realised he could claim.
I know they take carers off UC but if he’s put a back dated date for carers will he receive any of the back pay.? He applied for both on 29th January. He’s asked the DWP when he had his UC interview but they said carers is separate and he will have to wait until they contact him. It’s all very confusing.
Thanks Lu
Comments
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If Carer’s Allowance is awarded he will be paid the arrears. CA does often seem to take quite a long time to be awarded although as it’s one of the simpler benefits I don’t understand why.
He may end up being Carer’s Allowance for periods when he has already received UC in which case the UC will have been overpaid.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
worth a read:
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/universal-credit
2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡 -
calcotti said:If Carer’s Allowance is awarded he will be paid the arrears. CA does often seem to take quite a long time to be awarded although as it’s one of the simpler benefits I don’t understand why.
He may end up being Carer’s Allowance for periods when he has already received UC in which case the UC will have been overpaid.I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol. -
woodbine said:
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Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.
At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.
UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
calcotti said:Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.
At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.
UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.
So he will receive £505 a month including UC and the carers element? -
I’m finding this so hard to understand. If he’s entitled to £342 UC the carers element on top is £67 a week so shouldn’t he get the £505? If he’s claimed CA why is that then taken off making his money even lower? Surely this means no point claiming carers and just plain old UC?
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calcotti said:Lulu44 said:I’ve read things online that you don’t get back pay as it would all go into his Universal credit and be deducted. I’m so confused lol.
At today’s rates CA is £67.50/week, usually paid every 4 weeks.
UC maximum entitlement is £342.72 plus £162.92 = £505.64. Deduct the CA £291.41. UC payable = £214.23/month. This includes the temporary £87/month uplift to UC.Any help appreciated. -
His total benefit income will be £505/month.
Once Carers Allowance is being paid the UC will be reduced by the amount of CA he receives as set out in my earlier post.
At today's rates that will mean CA £270 paid every 4 weeks and UC £214.23 paid monthly.
He can cancel the CA if he wants and will still be entitled to the carer element in UC. Claiming both UC and CA does not increase the total benefit payable. However, as you explained in your own opening post, the advantage of claiming CA was that you could backdate it for three months (which is worth £877) and UC could not be backdated. Claiming CA was therefore a very sensible thing to do. Note also that while claiming CA he gets Class 1 NI credits whereas the UC claim only gives him Class 3. In most cases this is of little significance but in some cases it could be valuable because Class 1 credits count towards more things.
One very important rule to be aware of is the CA earnings rule. If he finds employment he is not entitled to CA if he earns more than £128 so must close the CA claim if that happens. The earnings rule does not apply to UC.
Think also about alternative situations. Lets say he finds some work and earns £100/week. This would not affect his CA claim at all but would reduce his UC entitlement.
If he earned £100/week he would still get CA of £67.50/week making a total of £167.50/week.
If he earned £100/week and was only claiming UC the UC payable would be £232.64/month. The total is £153.68/week which is less.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
calcotti said:His total benefit income will be £505/month.
Once Carers Allowance is being paid the UC will be reduced by the amount of CA he receives as set out in my earlier post.
At today's rates that will mean CA £270 paid every 4 weeks and UC £214.23 paid monthly.
He can cancel the CA if he wants and will still be entitled to the carer element in UC. Claiming both UC and CA does not increase the total benefit payable. However, as you explained in your own opening post, the advantage of claiming CA was that you could backdate it for three months (which is worth £877) and UC could not be backdated. Claiming CA was therefore a very sensible thing to do. Note also that while claiming CA he gets Class 1 NI credits whereas the UC claim only gives him Class 3. In most cases this is of little significance but in some cases it could be valuable because Class 1 credits count towards more things.
One very important rule to be aware of is the CA earnings rule. If he finds employment he is not entitled to CA if he earns more than £128 so must close the CA claim if that happens. The earnings rule does not apply to UC.
Think also about alternative situations. Lets say he finds some work and earns £100/week. This would not affect his CA claim at all but would reduce his UC entitlement.
If he earned £100/week he would still get CA of £67.50/week making a total of £167.50/week.
If he earned £100/week and was only claiming UC the UC payable would be £232.64/month. The total is £153.68/week which is less.
The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay.Thank you for all your help. Much appreciated. -
Lulu44 said: So if UC have added the carers element now, does that mean carers allowance are still dealing with his claim and he will hear from them separate?
The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay.Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK. -
calcotti said:Lulu44 said: So if UC have added the carers element now, does that mean carers allowance are still dealing with his claim and he will hear from them separate?
The back pay will CA pay that? As I read before that UC take the back pay.
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