How much to pay a live in carer

sh1981

nannytone wrote: »

you think you can go to an agency, hire a carer and just pay them the carers allowance?
CA is paid as a work repkacement benefit, paid to people that have severly limited opportunity to work because of caring responsibilities.
for someone you employ it is a JOB.
they work for a wage and not an allowance!

Whats CA for then? It's money all the same isnt it? What's it paid for? It's paid for services provided by the carer. So you mean to say carers get wages + CA?

nannytone_2

no one gets CA unless a claim is made for it.
i have a PA and she is paid via direct payments. no onr claims carers allowance for helping me.
as i have said ... it isnt paid as 'wages'. it is paid to compensate a carer because they cannot work sufficent hours to support themselves.
it is usually claimed by a family member that is unable to seek employment because of their caring responsibilities..
they arent paid for the 'work' they are paid because it makes it difficult for them to gain paid employment.
do you seriously think you could go to an angency and say ' i want a carer for at least 35 hours a week and will pay you just over £60 for doing so'

margaretclare

do you seriously think you could go to an agency and say ' i want a carer for at least 35 hours a week and will pay you just over £60 for doing so?

No chance. When I did it - 20 years ago - it was more like £30 a day. I don't know what the prices are now.

Although I was engaged through an agency I was paid by the client and was responsible for paying my own tax.

Mojisola

sh1981 wrote: »

Whats CA for then? It's money all the same isnt it? What's it paid for? It's paid for services provided by the carer. So you mean to say carers get wages + CA?

I don't think you understand what the benefit Carer's Allowance is for.

CA is paid to someone who cares for a someone instead of going out to work. It isn't paid to people who are professional carers.

Someone who is claiming CA is also allowed to earn up to £100 a week as long as they continue to care for at least 35 hours a week.

If you want to employ a person to be a carer, you have to pay them at least the minimum wage.

sh1981

nannytone wrote: »

no one gets CA unless a claim is made for it.
i have a PA and she is paid via direct payments. no onr claims carers allowance for helping me.
as i have said ... it isnt paid as 'wages'. it is paid to compensate a carer because they cannot work sufficent hours to support themselves.
it is usually claimed by a family member that is unable to seek employment because of their caring responsibilities..
they arent paid for the 'work' they are paid because it makes it difficult for them to gain paid employment.
do you seriously think you could go to an angency and say ' i want a carer for at least 35 hours a week and will pay you just over £60 for doing so'

Well yes actauly I would assume they would take 60 quid as that is the rate for carers allowance which is what is paid to the carer for providing services. CA is money.

By the way if a family member is caring then arent they also eligible for Direct Payments?

I thought direct payemtns are for people who need a carer 24/7.

So let me get this staright then, a typical carer would get:
1. money from direct payments
2. money from carers allownace
3. working tax credits

that's a lot of money.

sh1981

Mojisola wrote: »

I don't think you understand what the benefit Carer's Allowance is for.

CA is paid to someone who cares for a someone instead of going out to work. It isn't paid to people who are professional carers.

Someone who is claiming CA is also allowed to earn up to £100 a week as long as they continue to care for at least 35 hours a week.

If you want to employ a person to be a carer, you have to pay them at least the minimum wage.

Isnt CA equal to minimum wage? Cant they claim CA and the rest be made up from direct payments to equal minimum wage?

Indie_Kid

sh1981 wrote: »

I thought direct payemtns are for people who need a carer 24/7.

So let me get this staright then, a typical carer would get:
1. money from direct payments
2. money from carers allownace
3. working tax credits

that's a lot of money.

That's where you're wrong. Under some circumstances, a family member can get direct payments.

You can't claim working tax credits and carers allowance. CA (as you've been told many times) is paid to someone who generally isn't in employment. Someone claiming working tax credits, as the name suggests, would be working.

CA is nowhere near the minimum wage. Even if you do the minimum of 35 hours per week.

nannytone_2

sh1981 wrote: »

Well yes actauly I would assume they would take 60 quid as that is the rate for carers allowance which is what is paid to the carer for providing services. CA is money.

By the way if a family member is caring then arent they also eligible for Direct Payments?

I thought direct payemtns are for people who need a carer 24/7.

So let me get this staright then, a typical carer would get:
1. money from direct payments
2. money from carers allownace
3. working tax credits

that's a lot of money.

1. an assessment has to be made for direct payments. you can't just decide you want them! it is paid instead of social services sending a carer in. as has been mentioned 3 or 5 times a day for 14 minutes. they are only usually paid if the person/persons receiving care do not have someone available that can claim CA.
2. if the direct payments are paying over £100 a week for care, then the same person would not be able to claim CA. so at its maximum, they would receive £160 a week. well under NMW.
3 WTC could not be claimed by someone only receiving carers allowance and it is not paid employment but an ALLOWANCE..

HB58

I think the term 'carer' is causing confusion for some people. this word can have 2 different meanings in this context.

The first is someone who acts as a carer for a friend or relative. This person can be awarded carers' allowance of £60 per week to help make up for the fact that they would not be able to take on a full-time job due to their caring responsibilities.

The other is someone whose job is 'carer'. This person works professionally for clients with whom they have no other contact (on the whole). They must be paid at least NMW and have to pay tax and NI on their earnings - as long as they are over the threshold for these.

SandraScarlett

nannytone wrote: »

do you seriously think you could go to an angency and say ' i want a carer for at least 35 hours a week and will pay you just over £60 for doing so'

Oh, if only! That way, I could employ 4 of them to do 6 hour shifts each, and it would only cost me just over £240 to have DH looked after 24/7.


Unfortunately, I'll be paying £1150 per week for his respite!


xx