Information on carers allowance required.

curlews

Hi

If someone is terminally ill and currently claiming

DLA higher rate personal care component and
Incapacity benefit at long term rate

Can their friend who is living on interest from savings which is just over 5000 a year with no wage claim Carers Allowance for the terminally ill person? and

if so would the terminally ill person lose their DLA higher rate personal care?

Is savings interest classed as earnings?

Thank you for any advice where to look

Indie_Kid

Carers allowance only takes into account the earnings from work the carer would have. The limit is £100 per week.

DX2

curlews wrote: »

Hi

If someone is terminally ill and currently claiming

DLA higher rate personal care component and
Incapacity benefit at long term rate

Can their friend who is living on interest from savings which is just over 5000 a year with no wage claim Carers Allowance for the terminally ill person? and

if so would the terminally ill person lose their DLA higher rate personal care?

Is savings interest classed as earnings?

Thank you for any advice where to look

No claiming CA will not affect the other persons DLA rate.

The benefits of the person you care for

If you claim Carer's Allowance, it could affect the amount of benefit the person you care for receives.
The person you care for could lose the severe disability premium in their income-related benefit or the addition for severe disability in their Pension Credit. If you only have an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance and are not actually paid it, this will not affect the benefits of the person you care for.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CaringForSomeone/MoneyMatters/DG_10012529
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CaringForSomeone/MoneyMatters/CarersAllowance/DG_10012525

curlews

Many thanks to sh1305 & DX2 for the advice and links

iagreewitholdnick

sh1305 wrote: »

Carers allowance only takes into account the earnings from work the carer would have. The limit is £100 per week.

hope you don't mind me jumping onto this post guys but just a quickie....i have my full 41 years contributions that entitles me to a full state pension.....my wife has been disabled since 1985 but we never claimed any benefits because i have always had a fairly well paid job...a couple of years ago my wife was so ill that i packed in work and claimed carers allowance for myself and DLA for her.
a couple of weeks ago i was reading on one of the direct gov pages that when i claim my state pension , i will have to forsake my carers allowance....this does not seem fair ...if i was working i could claim carers ....but the rules appear to say that you cannot claim overlapping benefits....i must admit i never thought of state pension as a benefit....any one with any thoughts on this ??
are they saying that once i reach pension age , i will no longer be able to care for my wife ???.....can't understand why this isn't a big issue with age concern charities ???

DX2

You can claim Carer’s Allowance (CA) if you're aged 16 or over. There is no upper age limit. If you were awarded Carer’s Allowance on or after October 28 2002 you must satisfy all the rules to be paid Carer’s Allowance. If you were over 65 and receiving CA in October 2002, you can continue to get Carer’s Allowance even if you stop caring for a disabled person or you earn more than the earnings limit.
Putting off claiming state pension

When you reach state pension age (currently 60 for a woman and 65 for a man) you have the option of putting off taking your pension. This is known as deferring your pension. Carers need to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantage of taking the state retirement pension or deferring it.
If you put off taking your pension by at least 12 months you may, in some cases, gain a larger weekly amount of state pension or a one-off lump-sum payment when you start to receive the pension.
The rules about deferring the state pension were changed in April 2005 to encourage more people to continue working after retirement age, with the incentive of a higher pension or lump sum at a later date.
How this affects carers

Carers are normally unable to receive state pension and Carer’s Allowance at the same time because they are regarded as “overlapping benefits”. So, if you delay receiving your pension, you can continue receiving Carer’s Allowance, but during the time you receive Carer’s Allowance you will not build up any extra pension or a lump sum payment.
In other words, you will not gain any advantage from deferring your state pension if you continue to receive Carer’s Allowance after retirement age. You will not be able to qualify for a larger pension or a lump sum payment in that situation.
Deferring your pension if you don't claim Carer’s Allowance

If you're not getting Carer’s Allowance, or if you stop claiming Carer’s Allowance at retirement age, you would possibly gain from deferring your pension. You should still be careful to consider whether deferring your state retirement pension would be an advantage for you. There are various reasons why it would not be an advantage in your particular circumstances. For example:

• The pension, when it is paid, will be taxable and this could mean you have to pay a higher rate of income tax.
• If you claim pension credit while putting off claiming your state pension, your pension credit is calculated as if you're getting your state pension.

http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/carersbenefits/Pages/CarersAllowance.aspx

Mojisola

iagreewitholdnick wrote: »

hope you don't mind me jumping onto this post guys but just a quickie....i have my full 41 years contributions that entitles me to a full state pension.....my wife has been disabled since 1985 but we never claimed any benefits because i have always had a fairly well paid job...a couple of years ago my wife was so ill that i packed in work and claimed carers allowance for myself and DLA for her.
a couple of weeks ago i was reading on one of the direct gov pages that when i claim my state pension , i will have to forsake my carers allowance....this does not seem fair ...if i was working i could claim carers ....but the rules appear to say that you cannot claim overlapping benefits....i must admit i never thought of state pension as a benefit....any one with any thoughts on this ??
are they saying that once i reach pension age , i will no longer be able to care for my wife ???.....can't understand why this isn't a big issue with age concern charities ???

It isn't fair and older people's charities aren't happy about it but, especially in the current economic climate, the situation is unlikely to change.

The government is the only "employer" who can pay less than the minimum wage - carers have to work at least 35 hours in order to get a weekly allowance of £53.90.

If even a small fraction of the pension age carers stopped caring, the system would not be able to cope.

Everyone gets a pension. People who are "working" by caring for a family member after pension age should receive an extra allowance.

iagreewitholdnick

DX2 and Mojisola thanks for your input...I did pass the 35 hours a week criteria for caring but must admit to getting £80 something per week....and that is exactly my thought ....I will be 65 in 3 years time, so was considering stopping claiming CA and applying , on my wife's behalf for home help or home care or whatever is out there....this would cost the taxpayer quite a lot more than £80 per week...the thing is they know that any decent person would not be able to stop caring and they take advantage of this...I still cannot get to grips with state pension being a benefit....when the Daily Mail talks about millions of benefit scumbags, why don't the grey haired mob take to the streets in anger at this ???