Got a letter about having my carers allowance reviewed

jkelly

I live in NI and received a letter to complete a review of my carers allowance. The header of the letter states that it comes from

Benefit Security Risk
Measurement and Analytics
Standards Assurance Unit

They will call me on the telephone next week and given me a 1 hour time frame to be available. In the letter it states that they need to ensure that i received the correct amount of Carers Allowance between 01/07/19-07/07/19.

I started receiving carers allowance 12 months ago for my father who is on the high care component of DLA. I also care for my mother who is bedridden but i only receive the CA for my father. I live with them due to their needs.

I receive a weekly amount of carers allowance at £64.60, and UC of £97.17. I don't have a partner and i don't work. I just have a few hundred pounds in savings in a credit union account that i opened after i began receiving CA and UC 12 months ago.

I cannot find anything really about this ''Standards Assurance Unit'' online and it has made me worried.

Are they re-assessing my claim?

Has anyone gone through this process before?

calcotti

It’s probably a random check. On the basis of the information you have provided you are entitled to receive Carer’s Allowance so should have nothing to worry about.

However have you done any work at any time since you claimed CA? If you do any work and earn £123 or more you are not entitled to receive CA the following week. This is worked out on a weekly basis.

Note that there is no earnings limit for the carer element of UC.

The amount of CA should be £66.15/week. Puzzled by the amount of UC you receive. If you are under 25 your UC should be standard allowance of £251.77 plus carer element of £160.20 making maximum entitlement of £411.97. After the CA is deducted this would leave £125.32 payable each month (unless you have savings over £6,000 which are reducing your entitlement).

huckster

Any pay (including possible late reporting by employers) or tax rebate received during first week in July ?

Given specific period being asked about, I suspect that Carers Allowance have been alerted to earnings data.

jkelly

No i haven't worked or earned anything or had any rebate.

I checked back over my bank statements for that time period and apart from the UC and CA debits, the only debits have been between my and my parents accounts of small amounts for £20 or less. I order stuff for them on amazon every so often and ever since amazon charged my fathers account wrongly i removed their details from the site and just put everything through my account. There was also a debit of around £150 to pay for the tv license. Two refunds that i received that i received from amazon of £10.00 and £10.99 for items not received and that's it really.

I was checking the amount of what i get and i got it mixed up with the old amounts, it was £64.60 until 1st April, then it changed to £66.15 on 8th April. My UC credit also changed, from £97.17 on 26th April to £95.69 on 14th May.

calcotti

jkelly wrote: »

I was checking the amount of what i get and i got it mixed up with the old amounts, it was £64.60 until 1st April, then it changed to £66.15 on 8th April. My UC credit also changed, from £97.17 on 26th April to £95.69 on 14th May.

Unless you have other income or savings over £6,000 I still cannot see how the UC has been arrived at.
UC standard allowance (under 25) £251.77
carer element of £160.20
maximum UC entitlement = £411.97.
Unearned income deduction (CA) £286.65
UC payable £125.32 per month

pmlindyloo

calcotti wrote: »

Unless you have other income or savings over £6,000 I still cannot see how the UC has been arrived at.
UC standard allowance (under 25) £251.77
carer element of £160.20
maximum UC entitlement = £411.97.
Unearned income deduction (CA) £286.65
UC payable £125.32 per month

Trying to do the sums!

Think OP might be over 25.

Plus, NI pays every 2 weeks (which I believe is the figure they have quoted)

UC standard Allowance £317.82
Carer Element £162.20
Maximum UC entitlement = £480.02
Unearned income deduction (CA) £286.65
UC Payable £193.37 per month
UC payable £44.62 per week
UC payable £89.24 per 2 weeks.

Not sure I've done the figures correctly!!!!

Not sure how they work out weekly sums but the above figure seems nearer to a 2 week payment.

calcotti

I had assumed OP was referring to UC payment of £95.69 monthly - I didn't realise UC is paid more frequently in NI. That was why I though OP may be below 25 because it got me closer to his or her figure.

It appears that in NI is paid twice monthly (rather than fortnightly) so presumably they simply divide the monthly entitlement into two payments.

UC standard Allowance £317.82
Carer Element £160.20
Maximum UC entitlement = £478.02
Unearned income deduction (CA) £286.65
UC Payable £191.37 per month

UC payable £95.69 per half month. Spot on.

jkelly

Yes sorry, i am over 25 and the UC is paid in on the 14th and the 28th every month. I didn't realise it was different in the rest of the UK.

calcotti

jkelly wrote: »

Yes sorry, i am over 25 and the UC is paid in on the 14th and the 28th every month. I didn't realise it was different in the rest of the UK.

I didn't realise there was a difference either.
More sensible arrangement in NI, managing a monthly payment on a low income requires much more discipline and can easily result in families being without money at the end of the month.
UC was created as monthly payments to 'mimic the world of work' although research has indicated that about half of the people claiming UC who were previously in work were paid weekly or fortnightly.

calcotti

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Do you want to edit?

DONE!! Thanks for spotting.

Robbie64

calcotti wrote: »

I didn't realise there was a difference either.
More sensible arrangement in NI, managing a monthly payment on a low income requires much more discipline and can easily result in families being without money at the end of the month.
UC was created as monthly payments to 'mimic the world of work' although research has indicated that about half of the people claiming UC who were previously in work were paid weekly or fortnightly.

It's also twice monthly in Scotland though the claimant has to request this. Unlike in England though the request will normally be granted, there is no need to show hardship or exceptional circumstances. Plus payment of UC in Scotland is being devolved and, as has already happened in Northern Ireland, twice monthly payments may become the default position.