Carers benefits, legal and financial issues

Many carers are entitled to financial help, which they may not be aware of. Below you will find financial help which you may be entitled to. If you need help in completing forms pr finding out your entitlement then please contact Herefordshire Council's Welfare Benefits Team on 01432 363756.

1. Carers Allowance

This is a taxable benefit  for people who regularly spend time caring for a severely disabled person. It is counted as income for tax credits.

The Carer may be eligible for up to £53.90 per week (April 10 - April 11) if they are:

• Aged 16 or over 
• Spending at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who is getting either:
• Attendance allowance
• Disability Living allowance (middle or highest rate for person care)
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits Constant Attendance Allowance
• War Pensions Constant Attendance allowance

You cannot get Carer's Allowance if your net earnings are more than £100 per week (April 10 - April 11). "Net" means after you have paid for things like:

• some National Insurance (NI) contributions
• Income Tax
• half of any money you pay towards a personal or occupational pension
• paying someone who is not a close relative to look after the disabled person while you are at work (up to a certain limit)
• paying someone who is not a close relative to look after children aged under 16 while you are at work (up to a certain limit)
• some other expenses

You cannot get Carer's Allowance if you are in full-time education.

Even if Carer's Allowance cannot be paid it may be worth claiming because you may qualify for something called 'underlying entitlement' which means you may get additional help with other benefits such as pension credit, housing and council tax benefit.

Points to consider:

It's worth getting advice before you claim because if the person you are caring for gets Income Support, Pension Credit or income-based Job Seekers Allowance , they may lose their severe disability premium. Check whether they are getting any of  these benefits.

Recent changes you may not be aware of:

There is now no upper age limit and this means that significant numbers of lower income carers and those carers (mostly women) with no Retirement Pension or a reduced rate of Retirement Pension will now benefit. If your retirement pension is less than CA then your pension can be topped up to the weekly CA rate.

• If you have a short break from looking after the person you care for, your CA may be able to continue.
• You will earn extra pension through State Second Pension for every complete tax year you get CA.
• Carer’s can continue to receive CA for up to 8 weeks after the death of the person they care for.

2. Income Support with Carers Premium

Carers who are unable to work over 16 hours or who cannot sign on for work may be able to claim Income Support with a Carer's Premium if they get Carer's Allowance. The Carers Premium can allow up to £30.05 (April 10 - April 11) a week to be paid on top of any other Income Support a carer gets. Any other income a person has is taken into account when calculating how much Income Support the person can get. People under 60 years old cannot get Income Support if they have £16,000 or more in savings.

3. Pension Credit with Carer's Premium

Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit that can be claimed to top up the basic state pension to provide for basic living expenses. If a carer claims Carer's Allowance but it is not paid because the amount of basic state pension they get is higher, a Carer Premium may still be included in the pension credit calculations.

4. Other Financial Help

You may be able to get other financial help with Council tax and Housing costs..

If you have left your home empty to live elsewhere to care for someone, your former home may be exempt from council tax whilst you are away.

If  the home of the  person you are caring for becomes your sole or main residence, you may be counted as living there for council tax purposes. However a discount on the council tax  payable may apply if:

• the person you are caring for is not your child under 18 or your partner;
• they are entitled to higher rate attendance allowance, or the highest rate of disability living allowance care component, or constant attendance allowance; and
• you spend at least 35 hours a week on average caring for them.

If you remain liable for housing costs like rent or mortgage payments. If the absence is for 13 weeks or less you may be able to get help with rent through housing benefit, or help with some mortgage interest from income-related employment and support allowance, income support, income based jobseeker's allowance or pension credit.

Ask for a benefits check from:

• Herefordshire Council's Welfare Benefits Team : 01432 363756
• Herefordshire Carers' Support: 01432 356068 
• Carers UK CarersLine: 0808 808 7777 

Or look at the Directgov website