Carers Allowance and Job Seekers Allowance

carole6691

Hello,
Would anyone have any experience of whether it is possible to get carers allowance as well as jobseekers allowance?
I have had to start caring for my elderly father due to a deteriation in his condition and am doing circa 40hours per week spent with him,I am meanwhile still trying to get a job as I was made redundant in februry.
I tried to read the guidance on gov.uk but coudnt make sense of it and really dont want to fill in lots of forms in this is a no entitlement potentially anyway
thanks in advance
Carole

pmlindyloo

carole6691 wrote: »

Hello,
Would anyone have any experience of whether it is possible to get carers allowance as well as jobseekers allowance?
I have had to start caring for my elderly father due to a deteriation in his condition and am doing circa 40hours per week spent with him,I am meanwhile still trying to get a job as I was made redundant in februry.
I tried to read the guidance on gov.uk but coudnt make sense of it and really dont want to fill in lots of forms in this is a no entitlement potentially anyway
thanks in advance
Carole

First of all are you eligible for Carer's Allowance? Is your dad receiving AA/DLA (middle or higher rate) or PIP (daily living component)

If he is receiving one of these benefits then you can claim.

As regards other benefits you cannot claim contribution based JSA and Carer's Allowance. They are classed as overlapping benefits.

You can claim income based JSA but the CA allowance will count as income and deducted from your money. Then they will add a Carer's Premium to the JSA so you get to keep your CA and some JSA.

The other route is to claim Carer's Allowance and Income Support, another means tested benefit so the same will happen.

You can earn up to £102 a week when claiming CA so if you can find a job your self you could go down this route.

Does your dad claim any benefits as CA may affect them.?

Would you be eligible for income based JSA? If you have a partner who works then you probably wouldn't be eligible.

If you would like to share a few more details about your dad's and your circumstances we might be able to suggest what to do.

carole6691

hi there thankyou for the reply,the situation with my father is that he is getting the highest level of attendance allowance.I have empolyed a carer for the past 6 years who works 19.5 hours per week,however my dad has dementia and mobility problems and gradually his condition has deteriated and I am now caring for him about 40 hours a week including overnight stays.
When I was made redundant it became apparent he needed extra support which i have been giving,my intention is to continue in this fashion.I am getting income based job seekers allowance and my intention is to try and get some self employed work so that I can continue to support my dad and eke out a living for myself and my two children.
Any guidance is much appreciated
kind regards
Carole

Indie_Kid

If you're caring for him for 40 hours per week, are you still able to meet your job seekers agreement? Income support would be another option. You're not required to search for a job then.

pmlindyloo

carole6691 wrote: »

hi there thankyou for the reply,the situation with my father is that he is getting the highest level of attendance allowance.I have empolyed a carer for the past 6 years who works 19.5 hours per week,however my dad has dementia and mobility problems and gradually his condition has deteriated and I am now caring for him about 40 hours a week including overnight stays.
When I was made redundant it became apparent he needed extra support which i have been giving,my intention is to continue in this fashion.I am getting income based job seekers allowance and my intention is to try and get some self employed work so that I can continue to support my dad and eke out a living for myself and my two children.
Any guidance is much appreciated
kind regards
Carole

Probably the best solution is to claim Carer's Allowance and Income Support 'top up'. (Income Support is means tested so you would only get this if you did not work or have a partner who worked or savings/capital over £16000)


Income Support would give you automatic entitlement to maximum housing benefit and council tax reduction according to your personal circumstances.

If you worked and claimed CA you can earn £102 a week after tax without it affecting your CA but would not get the IS. However, you could claim HB and CT reduction because of low income.

A bit complicated so I suggest you put different scenarios into the benefit calculator on https://www.turn2us.org.uk and see what your entitlements might be.

Since you have children then you can continue to claim child tax credits if they are both in full time education. (but notify them of the change of circumstances)