Claiming carers allowance

Hi,

If he loses his SDP then there won't be much Transitional Protection as the couples rate of IS is very close to the couples rate of UC.

I think it would be a better option to keep his SDP until the migration, which will give you a much higher rate of TP. Then for you to do a WCA in order to claim LCWRA. (With him claiming the Carers Element). Although the LCWRA award will erode the TP, you should still be better off after that from my rough calculations.

Hopefully someone else can calculate it exactly to confirm.

I agree with overlyAnxious here. It’s not a good idea to apply for carers allowance before you migrate because you will be worse off by doing this.

Instead what you can do when you do eventually claim UC is report being his carer on your 2nd assessment period. (After you receive your first UC payment) if you apply during your first assessment period then it would affect your Transitional Protection.

The carers element from the 2nd assessment will period will erode some of your TP but you should still be better off doing it this way.

Other than that you can report your health condition, provide fit notes and go through the WCA.

Transitional Protection is based on the amount of Legacy Benefits you get right now. It can be calculated but we need to know if you get any other legacy benefits apart from couples IS and SDP. (And presumably Carers Premium?)

Then we can work out how much UC you would get. Currently that looks like:

Couples basic rate
1x Carers Element

The Legacy total minus the UC total gives us the Transitional Protection amount.

Then we can take another Carers Element (£198.31) from that amount if you become your husbands Carer.

There is no official proof of caring required for this.

SDP TP is about £334/month for single SDP for someone without the LCWRA element. Carers element is much less than that at £198/month. If you claim that in your first assessment period then you won’t be entitled to then SDP TP. Therefore you would be much worse off than if you wait until after your first UC payment before claiming carers element for looking after your partner.

Can’t advise about rate relief sorry. Not sure what it is to be honest as it’s not part of UC.

Yes wait until your first payment or during your 2nd assessment period to claim carers element.

When you do claim it, it will erode your TP by the same amount so you won’t be any better off and your entitlement will remain the same.

It’s only if you claim it during your first assessment period that you would be worse off.

For the rest of your TP that will be calculated once you’ve claimed UC.

Carers allowance is deducted in full from UC. You need to declare the 2nd property and it will be down to a decision maker to disregard that. Rental income from that is also disregarded. TP will be based on your UC entitlement before the £60 deduction.

Carers Allowance is deducted in full from UC. It will show up on the statement as a deduction of £354.90 each month. But you still get the Carers Allowance paid separately. That is exactly the same as it is for IS. Just that with IS it gets replaced by Carers Premium, and with UC it gets replaced with Carers Element. So it doesn't affect the overall monthly calculations, but you will still be getting it as separate payments instead of just one UC payment.

Carers Allowance does not erode the TP. The TP will be eroded if you start getting Carers Element. Or if you start getting LCWRA. Or when the benefit rates increase each April.

I'm afraid I don't know the rules on rental income with UC so can't advise on that.

See link about rental income, it’s treated as capital and not income. Scroll to H5094

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65d336b3e1bdec2be1322238/admh1.pdf