Carers Allowance

sox8369

Does anyone know about the rules for claiming a carers allowance whilst a student.

Obviously the student is not earning above the threshold, the only sticking point is the hours of study.

Reading on the direct.gov website it appears you can claim as long as you dont study for more than 21 hours per week but still care for 35 hours minimum.

Does anyone have any experience of this situation please ?

sunnyone

sox8369 wrote: »

Does anyone know about the rules for claiming a carers allowance whilst a student.

Obviously the student is not earning above the threshold, the only sticking point is the hours of study.

Reading on the direct.gov website it appears you can claim as long as you dont study for more than 21 hours per week but still care for 35 hours minimum.

Does anyone have any experience of this situation please ?

It depends on the course, if the college say its full time you cant claim carers and full time can be only 12 hours because you are expected to study on your own for many more hours, someone with more info will be along to soon.

kingfisherblue

I studied part time and still claimed CA. My course was described as part time by the university. It took five years to obtain my degree, whereas full time study would have taken three years. I still cared in excess of 35 hours a week.

There is a young man who is fighting for the right to receive CA whilst studying full time - you might find it interesting reading

http://www.carersuk.org/Aboutus/Whoarecarers/Alex

sox8369

Thank you Kingfisher - interesting article as well.

He is adding up his lessons etc and it does appear to be under 21 hours of supervised study - but technically it is a full time course. Its a shame because the time he spends doing the caring means he cannot get a job to support himself as well as study.

And congratulations on your degree x

lyniced

My daughter is claiming carers allowance for me - she has just finished her A levels, but not sure she is going to uni now, so whilst she is at home she is claiming CA. She does everything for me anyhow, so why not claim the benefit I said. Its a really piddly benefit though - £53.90 a week, not enough to live on.

sox8369

Ah thats interesting - so could they claim after their exams have finished (A Levels) which is usually about May - and then cancel the claim in Oct should they decide to go to university - ?

That seems to work because they wouldnt be in ft education and also you wouldnt receice CB for them because they have finished their course - is that right ?

kingfisherblue

After A levels, CB and CTC are paid until 31st August, unless the child starts full time work. If someone is claiming CA, I would imagine that they would have CB and CTC stopped before this date.

sox8369

Ah i didnt realise that - so she would have to stop the CB from May - but i think the carers allowance would be more pw than the cb. Thanks for all your help on this - i am paranoid of not doing it 'properly' and breaking any rules .....

kingfisherblue

CB is £20 a week compared to CA at £53.90 a week, but CTC varies, so you could be a bit better off or a bit worse off.

From personal experience, I can safely say that I could not have studied full time. It was hard enough part time when we had a lot of appointments, or if my son was ill. If I can offer any advice, I would suggest that any students who are also carers (even if not formally recognised as such) should tell their tutors. I found that on the couple of occasions that I needed an extension for assignments (due to my son being ill), it wasn't a problem because they were aware of my commitments at home.

Indie_Kid

If you claim CA and meet the savings / income criteria, you should be able to claim income support on top.

idvi

lyniced wrote: »

My daughter is claiming carers allowance for me - she has just finished her A levels, but not sure she is going to uni now, so whilst she is at home she is claiming CA. She does everything for me anyhow, so why not claim the benefit I said. Its a really piddly benefit though - £53.90 a week, not enough to live on.

its still about the same as job-seekers allowance for an under 25.. i had to live on that much for a bit when i was signing on before i was on esa. :eek: