Sister had mental breakdown due to Corona, self employed hubby has to be home as carer, benefits

stmoritz1960

Hi all,  sorry title was a bit long winded!  Basically my sister in law had an extreme breakdown and had to be sectioned for 6 weeks, she is now home and recuperating slowly, but still taking a few step backwards, her husband is self employed and he cant leave her, she won't cope for a while on her own, not sure what benefits they can claim,  my sister in law did a few private cleaning jobs previously but nothing much, for about 5 years, so we're not sure if carers benefits, mental health benefits or universal credit is the way to go,  any advice greatly received.  Ps sister and brother in law not good with these sort of things hence, I'm trying to help.   TIA XX

poppy12345

Unilversal Credit maybe possible providing they don't have savings/capital of more than £16,000. Council tax reduction can be claimed from their local council. Tell them to use a benefits calculator to check entitlement.

There's no entitlement to carers allowance unless your sister is claiming a qualifying benefit such as PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care.

If no disability benefit is being claimed at the moment, to be able to start a claim you must have had the condition for at least 3 months and expect it to last at least a further 9 months.

Do be aware that a claim for UC will end any tax credits they may already be claiming.