Very confused about carer's allowance and understanding it

crazyshady

We are currently trying to find out more about it all and we can't really do more until Monday. I live in Glasgow and am looking to get carer's allowance for my Dad, my Mum is his carer just now but due to ill health of my Mum she can no longer care and therefore I am trying to be my Dad's carer and another family member will also need to help care for my Mum.

I am aware that some money is taken off the person being cared for and is then paid to the carer. Due to this being my parents up until now, the money was theirs anyway as they are a couple. I am currently claiming Job Seekers Allowance and have recently moved back home to help with everything so am living with my parents just now. Up until now I only heard bits and pieces of everything and never knew how it all worked. I've done my own research and seen things about Carer's premiums and DLA and I know my Dad has got DLA.

I have heard about the Carer's Allowance being just over £50 a week and that gets taken off the person being cared for and given to the carer, am I right? What I am wanting to know is, I'm getting £70 a week on my JSA, would I get the same amount I am getting just now and then that Carer's Allowance on top of it or would my money get dropped down to something lower? I know I could go on to Income Support being that I'm living here now and helping out every day of the week and I couldn't work a full time job just now with things the way they are but I know nothing about Income Support either. I also don't think I could take £50 off my parents and treat it like a job. I have heard that carer's can work a few hours a week which would be something I would be wanting to do but right now I just want someone to explain to me in a way that I will understand how all of this works because I haven't got a clue. If i do this, which it looks like i will need to is this going to leave me with a lot less money every week even though I wont be able to get a full time job. I have bills to pay just like everybody else and I'm really worried about this.

Mojisola

You need to find out exactly which benefits Mum and Dad are on before you can know whether anyone can claim CA for them.

crazyshady

I don't know what they get. I know my sister got the forms to fill in for my Mum. I don't think my parents are too sure either so that's why they will try and find out on Monday, they seem to be in and out of the Doctors every week so it's finding the time and infact we need to move too, they got a lot of medical points awarded and now we need to get another house with no stairs so we need to go the Housing on Monday morning anyway and put our interest in for several houses we have seen.

Mojisola

They will have letters from the DWP explaining what they are getting.

pmlindyloo

In order to receive Carer's allowance the person you are caring for will need to be receiving the middle or higher rate care of DLA or AA (attendance Allowance)

You will need to be looking after them for 35 hrs per week.

You can receive CA and work earning no more than £100 per week.

If you do not work then you can receive CA and Income Support.

If your parent(s) receive something called a severe disability premium with their benefits (or called severe disability addition if receiving pensions credit) then they would lose this if anyone claimed CA for caring for them.

That is why it is extremely important that you seek some advice (CAB?) before going ahead with this.

It may be better for your parents to have an assessment from social services and receive some help this way.

But first, find out what they receive!

crazyshady

I will try and talk to them about it but they want it all done on Monday as they've been told it's a priority that they move house now and they want out of here as soon as they can. In the course of one day they went from being told they have no chance of getting a house to the person reading both their medical history and all the recent stuff that has happened to being awarded a lot more points. They've not been well for years and now they just can't care for each other. I'm sure I'll be back on Monday or before then if i get any answers.

crazyshady

pmlindyloo wrote: »

In order to receive Carer's allowance the person you are caring for will need to be receiving the middle or higher rate care of DLA or AA (attendance Allowance)

You will need to be looking after them for 35 hrs per week.

You can receive CA and work earning no more than £100 per week.

If you do not work then you can receive CA and Income Support.

If your parent(s) receive something called a severe disability premium with their benefits (or called severe disability addition if receiving pensions credit) then they would lose this if anyone claimed CA for caring for them.

That is why it is extremely important that you seek some advice (CAB?) before going ahead with this.

It may be better for your parents to have an assessment from social services and receive some help this way.

But first, find out what they receive!

I've never heard of that so I don't think they get that. I know with my Dad they took so much money off him and paid it to my Mum but they're a couple so the money didn't go anywhere. That's why I was asking about the CA and the benefit you recieve because if the benefit I recieved was the same as it is now, so my money doesn't change and then i get CA on top of that then I would just give my Dad it back. I wouldn't have him with his money short just because I'm caring for him, i don't treat it like a job.

With my Mum who my sister has got the forms for, I'm sure she got awarded the lower or middle rate, it wasn't the high rate but I'm pretty sure my Dad is the high rate. I don't have any doubts about that. My Dad has had it for some time. Like I say I don't know the ins and outs of it. I've either worked or been on JSA. I couldn't even tell you what Income Support is or how much it is or who gets it or why they get it.

The only thing I knew about was some money got taken from my Dad and paid to my Mum,so he lost some money but they never really lost it. What I didn't know was what happened to my Mum's money and if this is possible and we go ahead with it, what would happen to my money because I'm not working just now and I'm in a routine with bills and payments and as you know JSA gets paid every fortnight and it's not easy, it's not a lot. If i was to get the CA and I assume also I would need to be on the Income Support? in order to work a certain number of hours a week, would the amount i get paid just now change? Does it stay at the £70 a week?

gayleanne

The severe disability premium is nearly 100 pounds a week, this will be lost if someone claims carers allowance, which is 58.00 a week. I would be very careful, what you are doing, you will not get JSA as well as carers, so for the sake of a few pounds a week you are liable to lose a damn sight more.

crazyshady

I don't think they get that. I spoke to my Mum just now and she says all the forms are there and that I should look at them and she doesn't mind not being the carer for my Dad because she knows she would never be able to work anyway so it's not like she's trying to avoid the Job Centre. She said the amount she got paid every week before she took on being a carer never changed, they take over £50 a week from my Dad and give it to her and she just gives it back to him and she still gets her money as usual.

I'd need to make sure I wasn't getting less than my £70 a week just now. My Mum said going to income support and being my Dad's means I don't need to go to the job centre anymore and it means i'd have my money as normal but down the line I have the option to get a part time job earning a bit extra. I'll need to find out and make sure that if i did this that i would still be getting the amount I am getting just now.

~Chameleon~

gayleanne wrote: »

The severe disability premium is nearly 100 pounds a week, this will be lost if someone claims carers allowance, which is 58.00 a week. I would be very careful, what you are doing, you will not get JSA as well as carers, so for the sake of a few pounds a week you are liable to lose a damn sight more.

No, it's not. It's about £59 per week and as the OPs dad doesn't live alone it's highly unlikely he actually receives this so wouldn't lose anything if the OP claims CA for him. Unless mum is also getting middle or high DLA then they could both receive SDP.

Savvy_Sue

I cannot see how you will be able to claim JSA and receive Carer's Allowance. If you are claiming JSA you have to be job-hunting and willing to drop everything if a suitable job turns up: that doesn't sound consistent with caring for someone for over 35 hours pw.

Unless you can find all the paperwork about your parents' current benefits situation, I don't think you'll be able to sort this out over the weekend. Plus, as explained, you may need some expert advice before you decide what the best course of action is.