After Carers allowance stops

Yellowvest23

Which benefit would someone be entitled to claim after their carers allowance stopped due to the passing away of the person they cared for?
They have savings over £16k but have at least 3 years NI credits from caring.
They will be seeking work,no dependants and will NOT be claiming housing or council tax reduction.
Thank you.

calcotti

I can’t think of anything that is available to them.

Yellowvest23

So they are not entitled to any contribution based benefit although they have the last 3 years NI credits?

calcotti

Yellowvest23 said:

So they are not entitled to any contribution based benefit although they have the last 3 years NI credits?

No. To claim new style JSA you need to have two years (2017-18 and 2018-19) of contributions or credits but this has to include having actually paid the equivalent of 26 weeks of contributions in one of the two years. If they were too ill to work they could claim new style ESA because there is a relaxation of the 26 week contribution requirement for someone who has been getting CA in respect of ESA. To the best of my knowledge this relaxation does not apply to JSA.

I assume that if the person they were caring for was their spouse or civil partner they have claimed Bereavement Support Payment.

bigbill

They need to go back to the very start of their original Carers Allowance claim as the previous 2 years from this Carers start date will be used to decide if they have the National Insurance and earnings to qualify for Contribution Based or New style JSA.

calcotti

bigbill said:

They need to go back to the very start of their original Carers Allowance claim as the previous 2 years from this Carers start date will be used to decide if they have the National Insurance and earnings to qualify for Contribution Based or New style JSA.

I wasn't aware of that rule despite looking up rules in my CPAG before replying previously (still can't see it). Are you saying that if the Carer's Allowance started in 2017 then the NI contributions test would be applied to the tax years 2014-15 and 2015-16?

bigbill

Yes
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2013/9780111531921/regulation/39

calcotti

bigbill said: Yes

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2013/9780111531921/regulation/39

Thanks big bill. I've never come across this before - probably needs lots of cross referencing to track down in CPAG! The regulation is about linking periods, is the claimant automatically treated as if they were a jobseeker on the day immediately prior to the start of the CA claim.

OP, apologies for misleading you in my first response. Sounds like they may be able to claim new style JSA - be aware that this only pays £74.35/week and is only payable for a maximum of 26 weeks.

Yellowvest23

So would  making up years  by voluntary  paying  count as "actually paying"  NI?

calcotti

Yellowvest23 said:

So would  making up years  by voluntary  paying  count as "actually paying"  NI?

No - voluntary Class 3 contributions do not count (and on the basis of what big bill said are not needed if person was working prior to claiming CA).

Yellowvest23

Thanks guys,so many knowledgeable people on this forum.
I`ll pass on the great although not good information .

So the NI credits awarded during them claiming carers allowance count towards nothing apart from their state pension eligibility?