Claiming carers allowance help

Sab705

Hi, need a little help please.
My husband has mental health problems and is claiming ESA income related in the support group, dla he gets high rate care and low rate mobility and housing benefit. My question is his mental health nurse mentioned about me claiming carers allowance for him, as I cant work because of caring for him and I just wondered if my claiming carers would affect the other benefits my husband gets or how it would affect them if I did.
Thank you in advance

nannytone_2

i assume he is claiming benefit for you both?

as he gets high rate care you would be entitled to carers allowance, but it is classed as income and your joint benefits would be decreased by the same amount.
but then a carers premium would be added, its about £31 a week

enabledebra

It's a bit of a swings and roundabouts situation. Carer's Allowance is an additional household income which is taken into account when looking at how much of a 'top up' a household needs from 'means tested' benefits such as (income related esa) to cover their basic needs (basic needs = 'applicable amount') but if someone in the household is a carer the basic needs/applicable amount is higher. you can use the turn to us calculator to see what would happen to other benefits if you were getting carers allowance. http://www.turn2us.org.uk/ or ask the nurse to refer you to an advice service who can do a 'better off' calculation for you.

benefitbaby

You can claim CA if you provide 35 hours of care per week and (if doing any work) do not earn more than £100 per week.

The CA would increase you and your husband's applicable amount for benefits (the amount the law says you need) rather than decrease it. It goes something like this:

APPLICABLE AMOUNT - NOW:
Personal Allowance (couple) £111.45
Support Group Component £34.05
Enhanced Disability Premium (couple) £21.30
Total income-related ESA entitlement £166.80 per week

APPLICABLE AMOUNT - AFTER CA CLAIM:
Personal Allowance (couple) £111.45
Support Group Component £34.05
Enhanced Disability Premium (couple) £21.30
Carer's Premium £32.60
Total income-related ESA entitlement £199.40 per week

From the applicable amount of £199.40 the CA income of £58.45 is deducted.

So you and hubby would receive:
CA £58.45
DLA £98.00
ESA £140.95

Total benefit entitlement £297.40 per week.

enabledebra

I feel very lazy now : )

benefitbaby

enabledebra wrote: »

I feel very lazy now : )

lol, after I hit 'save' and saw your post i felt ridiculously long-winded

enabledebra

Not at all- the detail is exactly what she needed to know : )

nellykim

Could I ask a question please ? My dad in law who is 91 is having trouble getting up and down stairs, so we asked local authority if they can put in a stairlift. Assessor came, and the process of inspecting is underway. The assessor advised to ask about Carers Allowance as Dad pays a cleaner, and we do his shopping, errands, etc.

He has Income Bonds, and a small amount in current account, and he gets pension credit, but does not pay council tax . I just wondered if anyone knew if carers allowance can be claimed by him to cover such expenses as cleaning and caring. It does not take 35 hours per 2week though, to clean and shop etc for him.

And anyway, would carers allowance be payable if his savings were above a certain level ( only £40,000 ) ?

Thankyou to anyone who has any knowledge to impart.

nellykim

Hi.. I wonder if anyone could help please.

My dad in law has trouble climbing his stairs . He is 91 and needs a stairlift, and we asked the local council to assess him, which they are doing. The assessor asked if we had thought of claiming Carer's Allowance, and so I looked online, but the facts and figures seem a little confusing .

Does he have to have a means test to get this allowance ? He has a weekly cleaner who he pays, and myself and husband to do his shopping and errands ( though we dont take 35 hours doing it, as the requirement seems to suggest )

He has savings of £40,000 plus, and his state pension, pension credit ( total £246.64 weekly ( single widower ) and a small company pension of £59.00 per month.

This seems alot to me ( alot of income ). He doesnt pay council tax either. So, it looks to me as if it would be no good really him claiming this allowance. Or could I be wrong ?

Hopefully someone would be able to answer me, and thankyou for any help at all.

Torry_Quine

nellykim wrote: »

Could I ask a question please ? My dad in law who is 91 is having trouble getting up and down stairs, so we asked local authority if they can put in a stairlift. Assessor came, and the process of inspecting is underway. The assessor advised to ask about Carers Allowance as Dad pays a cleaner, and we do his shopping, errands, etc.

He has Income Bonds, and a small amount in current account, and he gets pension credit, but does not pay council tax . I just wondered if anyone knew if carers allowance can be claimed by him to cover such expenses as cleaning and caring. It does not take 35 hours per 2week though, to clean and shop etc for him.

And anyway, would carers allowance be payable if his savings were above a certain level ( only £40,000 ) ?

Thankyou to anyone who has any knowledge to impart.

Carer's allowance is paid to the person looking after someone receiving either DLA or AA. Does he get AA as he probably has care needs from what you say?

nellykim

Many thanks TQ. I'm not sure if he gets AA ( he doesn't get DLA ) He doesn't know if he gets AA, but I have looked at his bank statement, and one amount ( weekly ) is down as PC ( Pension Credit presumably)..£70.81, and, SP ( State Pension ) weekly..£175.83 ( which seems alot to me ? ).

How would I find out if he does get Attendance Allowance, and , if he does, would he still get Carers Allowance. Like I said, he has £40,000 in income bonds and £4,000 current savings account.

Is it worth a try ?

Thanks !