Will Carers Allowance affect my son’s PIP & ESA?

DuckDad
DuckDad Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
in Benefits and income
Hi, my son is on ESA Support Group (not income related) and has PIP standard daily living and enhanced mobility. 
If my partner, his Mum, claims Carer Allowance for him, will his benefits be affected? 

Neither claim any UC, my partner doesn’t work but I do. She’s not pension age. We all live in the same house. I don’t receive any benefits. 

We won’t claim, if his benefits are in some way reduced. 

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    No, it will not affect any of his benefits. Is his ESA New style ESA or the old contributions based?
  • DuckDad
    DuckDad Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
    New style I guess, only applied for and awarded in August 2022. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Then yes it's New style. Has he also checked entitlement to Universal Credit? If he has savings/capital of more than £16,000 he's excluded from claiming.
    If he claims it the ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. Use a benefits calculator to check.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    edited December 2022
    It will be new style ESA then. As poppy says, your partner claiming CA will make no difference to your son’s benefits.

    Apart from the money she receives, your partner will, as a Carers Allowance claimant, get NI credits towards her future State Pension.

    She can backdate the CA claim by three months or to the start of your son’s PIP award if she is claiming within three months of the PIP decision.
  • DuckDad
    DuckDad Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
    Thank you. On that basis we’ll apply for Carers Allowance. 
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,922 Championing
    Good luck @DuckDad. How are you feeling about the idea of applying for Carers Allowance at the moment?

    Please feel free to let us know how it goes and if you need any support in the meantime. We are all here for you and listening to you.

    Take care for now and we will look forward to, hopefully, hearing from you again soon  :)
  • DuckDad
    DuckDad Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
    Thank you. I did apply straight away, it took minutes. All the criteria was met, I just needed your earlier confirmation that there were no negative consequences for my sons benefits as a result. 

    We know it’s just a long wait now, but I’ll provide an update, so people know the latest times for processing to decision/award. 

    It is only through sites like these, that we’ve known any benefits exist to help. There’s nothing to signpost people that we’ve seen by GP’s or our hospital consultants. 

    So thank you, for what you do. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    As advised it will have no affect on your sons current benefits. 
  • DuckDad
    DuckDad Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
    Just thought I’d share an update. We applied on 4th December and on 31st December we’ve received the award and a clear explanation of the back payment being made. 

    It was a very straightforward process and didn’t take too long. 
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    DuckDad said:
    It was a very straightforward process and didn’t take too long. 
    That’s encouraging, earlier in the year CA claims were taking many months.
  • Hannah_Alumni
    Hannah_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,866 Championing
    @DuckDad That's fantastic news! :)
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    That's extremely quick, even more so with the Christmas closing days too.

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