carers allowence

stassy23

Hi my son gets mrc dla and someone said to me to claim carers i dont have to do i? i feel cheeky applying for that because i brought him into this world and i have to look after him, i think we would be worse off if i applied as well. thank you

kingfisherblue

No, you don't have to claim CA. If you do claim it, there are certain criteria that you must meet, such as not being a full time student, giving a minimum of 35 hours a week care, and earning no more than £100 a week. It shouldn't make you worse off, as it is only your income, not partner's or household income, that is taken into account.

I also care for my son, and I do claim CA. I cannot work due to the level of his disabilities (HRC and HRM), so it helps towards paying the bills.

You should also inform child tax credits that you now receive DLA at MRC for your son, as the amount you get will increase.

stassy23

thanks for that, i dont work due to my son and 2 other children i will look into it and have a think about it

thank you for taking time to reply

MrsManda

stassy23 wrote: »

thanks for that, i dont work due to my son and 2 other children i will look into it and have a think about it

thank you for taking time to reply

If you don't work and you look after your son full time then do apply. You may not want it for yourself but you'll be able to use it to improve your lives a little, perhaps you can save it to take the kids on a special day out every so often?

kingfisherblue

I think you also get your NI creedits paid if you claim CA - useful for your pension in future years.

Tehya

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I think you also get your NI creedits paid if you claim CA - useful for your pension in future years.

That's correct, I'm a carer on CA so it was a relief to know I was covered.

Lazy_Ike

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I think you also get your NI creedits paid if you claim CA - useful for your pension in future years.

Yes, to reinforce what another poster has said. You DO get NI credits, and this, to me, is almost the most important reason to apply for CA.

kingfisherblue

Glad I was right about the NI credits - but I apologise for the terrible spelling!

Strapped

If you don't want to apply for it, then don't. No-one's going to force you to. But as this is a money saving site, I don't think there'll be too many people saying you shouldn't apply!

daska

If you're claiming Child Benefit for a child under 12 you'll already be getting weekly credits towards your pension. (Used to be Home Responsibilities Protection)

sunnyone

Any carer can get carers credit which was introduced last year and it works the same as home resposibility protection so even if you cant get carers allowance anyone you can get your NI credits.