Carer's Allowance and part-time job

Dekota

Hi there,

I got a letter today from DWP that my NI records show that I have been working and have been told to complete the questionnaire attached.
I've been getting CA since 2 years when I was a full time carer to my mum and I wasn't working then. I started working in domicillary care for a period and wasn't aware of the clause in CA that recieving income of more than £100 a week means I wouldn't be eligible for that week. I was made redundant a couple of months ago and have been unemployed since.

Will my carer's allowance stop? my pay from my job was variable depending on work assigned to me and I didn't get paid more than £100 a week on average. Does anyone have any experience what happens now? It says 'If your carer's allowance was paid into an account we will stop any further payments'

Can anyone advise what will happen? thanks

rogerblack

You need to tell them of any week that you earned more than 100 pounds. (technically, it's not 100 pounds. It's 100 pounds, after tax, NI contributions, half private pension contributions, and any expenses wholely and unavoidable incurred at work)

You have been overpaid carers allowance for those weeks, as you were not entitled, and will have to pay it back.
You should do this as soon as possible, as if they find out independently, it's much more likely you will be investigated for fraud.

You may need to make a fresh claim, if your claim is cancelled, and you may need to appeal the decision as to how much you have been overpaid - as you remained entitled for most of the period.

Dekota

rogerblack wrote: »

You need to tell them of any week that you earned more than 100 pounds. (technically, it's not 100 pounds. It's 100 pounds, after tax, NI contributions, half private pension contributions, and any expenses wholely and unavoidable incurred at work)

You have been overpaid carers allowance for those weeks, as you were not entitled, and will have to pay it back.
You should do this as soon as possible, as if they find out independently, it's much more likely you will be investigated for fraud.

You may need to make a fresh claim, if your claim is cancelled, and you may need to appeal the decision as to how much you have been overpaid - as you remained entitled for most of the period.

Thanks,

In terms of paying overpayments back, is there any arrangement whereby they deduct the overpayment out of my future payments for CA?

rogerblack

Dekota wrote: »

Thanks,

In terms of paying overpayments back, is there any arrangement whereby they deduct the overpayment out of my future payments for CA?

It would depend on how much the overpayment was, and if they believe it was an innocent error.
If it's a couple of weeks worth - probably.
If it's a year - it's really questionable.

nutty1

can you get carers allownace and income support and still have a part time job for less then £100 a week

rogerblack

kathrynt wrote: »

can you get carers allownace and income support and still have a part time job for less then £100 a week

Claiming CA while claiming IS will add a 'carer premium' to your IS.

Carer premium + IS would usually boost your icome to over 100/week.

In principle, you may still be able to claim, but only if you are paying into a personal pension each week by twice the amount you're over 100 pounds.

So - usually not.

Anubis_2

rogerblack wrote: »

Claiming CA while claiming IS will add a 'carer premium' to your IS.

Carer premium + IS would usually boost your icome to over 100/week.

In principle, you may still be able to claim, but only if you are paying into a personal pension each week by twice the amount you're over 100 pounds.

So - usually not.

The IS and CP are not counted as income - what happens is that IS and also the carer premium will be reduced £1 for £1 after the normal exclusion.

nutty1

rogerblack wrote: »

Claiming CA while claiming IS will add a 'carer premium' to your IS.

Carer premium + IS would usually boost your icome to over 100/week.

In principle, you may still be able to claim, but only if you are paying into a personal pension each week by twice the amount you're over 100 pounds.

So - usually not.

so income support and carers allowance for an adult is over £100 a week, is that right

Dekota

Can anyone shed some light on what happens if I ignore the questionnaire they've told me to fill? Basically they want payslips from my previous job and I'm 70% sure that they don't intend to tell me an overpayment, rather frame me for benefit fraud and attempt to prosecute me. I haven't received the dreaded interview under caution letter so if I ignore this letter/questionnaire, what can I expect? I'm hesitant to feed DWP information which they can then use against me later on to attempt to say that I've tried to defraud them

Thanks for any help, worried!

rogerblack

Dekota wrote: »

Can anyone shed some light on what happens if I ignore the questionnaire they've told me to fill?

They may assume you are entitled for none of the period, and that it's all been overpaid.

bazza5070

Complete the paperwork and send it back with relevant information as requested, if you do not you will most definately receive and invite to visit a Compliance Officer at your local JCP. They are not trying to be underhand or try to prosecute you for Benefit Fraud, all they will require is the truth about any earnings and you will obviously be expected to pay any overpayments back. Why would you want to hang on to something you were not entitled to? They will most likely not expect you pay any money back straight away, it will be taken as an agreed amount each week from your benefit.