Carers allowance and part time work?

mich13x

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice on my sisters situation, have googled a bit but cant seem to find the answer.

My sister is currently living with our elderly grandmother and is getting carers allowance for looking after her.

She has been a bit down lately because she spends so much time at home with grandma and has got herself a part time job a few days per week when someone else is available to look after grandma to get her out of the house.

She will be working 18 hours per week and earning £117 or there abouts. As we understand it to get carers allowance she cannot earn more than £100 pw. The question is does she lose all of her carers allowance for being £17 over or just some of it?

Thanks for any help guys!

Cpt.Scarlet

If you're working and you earn less than £100 a week from paid work, you will not lose any of your Carer’s Allowance. If you earn more than £100 a week, you will lose all of your Carer’s Allowance for the weeks you earn that amount. Only earnings affect your entitlement to Carer’s Allowance. It is not affected by other income, such as an occupational pension or maintenance payments. The £100 is a net figure, which is the amount you're left with after deductions for:

• National Insurance
• Income Tax
• half of any pension contributions you make

mich13x

Thanks for that, I am sure I read somewhere though that you can also take off expenses from half of your earnings to cover paying someone else to care for the person you would normally be caring for?

DX2

mich13x wrote: »

Thanks for that, I am sure I read somewhere though that you can also take off expenses from half of your earnings to cover paying someone else to care for the person you would normally be caring for?

What can I deduct from earnings when calculating Carer’s Allowance?

You're allowed to deduct the following:

• Any payments you make to someone (other than a close relative) to look after the severely disabled person you normally care for while you're at work. Up to half your net earnings can be ignored this way.
• Any payments you make to someone (other than a close relative) to look after your child (or children) under 16 while you're at work. Up to half your net earnings can be ignored this way.
• The first £20 of any income for renting out rooms in your own home.
• Foster care allowance from a local authority.

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

mich13x

Thankyou DX2 thats exactly what I was looking for.

Am i right in thinking then, that she can deduct the £37 pw we will be paying for a carer from the council to bring grandma lunch and take her to the toilet etc? ( this is only for one day pw, another relative will do the other days) Thus my sisters net earnings will be under £100 and she can keep her carers allowance?

DX2

mich13x wrote: »

Thankyou DX2 thats exactly what I was looking for.

Am i right in thinking then, that she can deduct the £37 pw we will be paying for a carer from the council to bring grandma lunch and take her to the toilet etc? ( this is only for one day pw, another relative will do the other days) Thus my sisters net earnings will be under £100 and she can keep her carers allowance?

Yes, that's certainly my understanding. If need be phone the carers allowance unit and get them to confirm, they are really helpful.

happy_lass

ok, i have had dealings with the carers allowance people recently and they said that if you are paid weekly you cannot go over the £100 limit..BUT if you are paid monthly then it is £433.32 (i think). This does not make alot of sense to me so i suggest that the benefit enquiry line can give you more advice. the no is 0800 882 200 . Hope this helps.

Sixer

happy_lass wrote: »

ok, i have had dealings with the carers allowance people recently and they said that if you are paid weekly you cannot go over the £100 limit..BUT if you are paid monthly then it is £433.32 (i think). This does not make alot of sense to me so i suggest that the benefit enquiry line can give you more advice. the no is 0800 882 200 . Hope this helps.

It'll be £433.33 per calendar month. This is because there are 52 weeks and/or 12 months in the year.

£100 x 52 (weeks) = £5,200.

£5,200 / 12 (months) = £433.33.

The limits are exactly the same.

happy_lass

Sixer wrote: »

It'll be £433.33 per calendar month. This is because there are 52 weeks and/or 12 months in the year.

£100 x 52 (weeks) = £5,200.

£5,200 / 12 (months) = £433.33.

The limits are exactly the same.

thats me being a bit thick.....lol.......i worked it out after......duuuuuhhh. feel a bit of a wally now !!!:o:o:o:o