Carers Allowance stopped

davefrombristol

Hi I recently started work ( 3-4 weeks ago ) for 9 hours a week earning net £65 a week. I claim Income Support as a lone parent bringing up a disabled child.

I rang the 0845 number for Carers Allowance on or around the time that I started work and explained that I would not be earning over £100 a week and was told that a form would be sent for me to fill in providing proof of earnings.

The form arrived and was asking me to send wage slips ( min 5 I believe ). I had to wait for a few weeks before I was able to get the wage slips from my employer and have sent in 3 weeks worth. My tax is deducted by my employer so I am getting the net pay in my pocket.

No doubt Income Support will deduct all my wages bar £20 ( Lone parent amount to earn ). Even though Carers should not have stopped my money, do I now inform Income Support that I have a change of Circumstances namely that I no longer get Carers allowance ? My Carers allowance was £58 a week which is now stopped. I used to get the Carers Premium to top up income support £25 roughly - should they not be stopping £25 a week if this is the case ?

All this is now making me wish I never started the job in the first place. I can see months of hardship coming my way now and all I have done is been dead straight by informing them all of my change of circumstances - I thought the govts philosophy was that working was always meant to pay ?

nannytone_2

how much income support are you getting now that you are working and how much is your wage?

if you are earning enough to pay tac, then you would be earning too much for either income support or carers allowance

davefrombristol

I get roughly £150 a week but this figure is before they decide to chop my money due to me working 9 hours earning £65 a week after tax is taken out by my employer. Gross is £79 a week - note its not my choice that my employer is taking the tax off leaving me with net pay.

Carers Alowance has been stopped - so thats £58 a week gone. Please note that the £150 income support includes the child disability premium.

Surely I am not earning too much for Income Support or Carers Alloowance ? ( £100 a week net )

nannytone_2

so you arent receiving child tax credits? your child is still on your claim for income support?

the way it is worked out is that they pay you carers allowance and then subtract that amount from your income support claim.

they then add a carers premium.

are you single or part of a couple?

how much income support is paid for your child?

you must be on emergency tax, so need to phone the tax office so they can give you the correct tax code.

davefrombristol

No I've never been moved over to Child Tax Credits. I am a lone parent ( not had any maintenance etc from the mum since my daughter moved in with me 8 years ago, not even a penny piece )

My Carers Allowance shows up on my Bank Account as weekly payments of £58 - this whole amount has now been stopped.

I got the impression that my employer pays the tax to inland revenue - don't quite know how it works but the other people working are not on income support like me so there tax is deducted - done the same with me.

Do I take it that Income support will not take this into account and assume I am getting gross pay and reduce my income support from £79 down to £59 taken off ?

nannytone_2

are you getting a wage slip? your tax code will be on it.

forget about the carers allowance for a minute....

how much income support were you getting before you started working, and how much are you getting now?

just trying to see if they are paying your carers in with yourincome support.

davefrombristol

Income Support are about to receive a form back from me stating that I am working for 9 hours a week with gross pay £79 and net £63 with wage slips that don't show any tax code but do show the amount of tax taken out and running totals of gross & tax as each week goes by. Income support amount hasn't changed (£150 a week) yet but no doubt it will when they receive confirmation of how much I am getting paid.

My Carers Allowance clearly shows up as weekly payments on bank account (CA) £58 every week and thats now stopped going in

kingfisherblue

Dave, you aren't earning enough from your job to be paying tax, never mind £14 a week.

Your tax allowance is £8105

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/personal-allow.htm

Your gross pay is £79 a week, so:

52 (weeks) x £79 = £4108

Carer's Allowance is £58.45, so:

52 x £58.45 = £3039.40

Add the two together:

£4108 = £3039.40 = £7147.40

This is way below the amount you earn before paying tax. I don't know how your IS would be affected though.

You should also receive child tax credits on top of this amount. This would be the standard amount, plus a disability element as you have a child receiving DLA. If your child receives the high rate of the care component, you should also receive an additional amount called the severe disability element. You do need to tell CTC that your child receives DLA, and the rate, to get the additional amounts.

If you have a carer's centre in your area, or if the council has a welfare rights advisor, you should make an appointment with them for a full benefits check.

bigbill

You should still get carers once they check your average earnings, as your earnings are under £100 weekly?

I would leave the tax code as it is and allow the tax to be taken now, as anything you earn over £20 will come off your income support £ for £ so the less you earn now the less you lose now, you will get the overpaid tax back later as a lump sum which should be ignored.

mikey_bach

Also you may have another problem...
CA have suspended your benefit if they close it so will your I.S if you havent got any other COE..
You claim as a carer, unless you have a child under 5 your claim will close after the eight week run on.

So you need to get the CA sorted straight away..

I.S will take your part time wages in pound for pound after the £20 carers disregard has been applied

von

I would suggest you contact the Carer's Allowance Unit on 0845 608 4321 to find out why they have stopped you're benefit - perhaps they're waiting for the other 2 wage slips - see link which confirms that "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"
http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/carersbenefits/Pages/CarersAllowance.aspx