Carer's Allowance after the person you care for dies

in_my_wellies

Sorry to jump in on this thread. I wasn't aware of the 8 week run on so thank you
Could anyone tell me if the NI Credits which I receive for claiming CA also run on for the 8 weeks too?
Thank you 

calcotti

in_my_wellies said:

Sorry to jump in on this thread. I wasn't aware of the 8 week run on so thank you
Could anyone tell me if the NI Credits which I receive for claiming CA also run on for the 8 weeks too?
Thank you 

Yes, you get credits while in receipt of CA.

BooJewels

I can concur with calcotti - the letter I got also stated that they can 'no longer give me Class 1 NI Credits' from the same date as the payment stops.

SimonaN

Hello, 
im in similar position. The elderly gentleman I looked after passed away 10 days ago- he had a cardiac arrest and died in hospital few hrs later ( was taken to hospital just at midnight and passed away in the morning)
My monthly CA payments stopped immediately as I reported the death.
I am desperately hoping for the 8 weeks payment as I’m left without any money now but I’m worried as he died in hospital that I won’t apply to it..

cheekyweegit

I know this is an old thread but might be able to explain the hospital / 8 week rule after death.

If someone goes into hospital or a care / nursing home either for respite or permanently the Carer is entitled to the Carers allowance for 4 weeks during this period which aligns up with the disabled persons disability benefit remaining in payment during their initial stay in hospital / respite care / permanent care / nursing home provided there has been no other breaks in care previously. 

Carers I believe are entitled to 4 weeks break in care in a 12 month period and can still get their paid Carers Allowance.  Eg the Carer can go on holiday without the Disabled Person for 2 x 2 week periods and still get the paid Carers Allowance but really should report they are going away and return to Carers but many don't.

If the Carer themself ended up in hospital this should again be reported and they would still get the 4 weeks allowance then it would stop, but any Carers Premium would continue for 8 weeks after the Carers Allowance stopping meaning it could essentially be paid up to 12 weeks after the Carer or Disabled Person was admitted to hospital / care.

Many also, especially when getting underlying entitlement to Carers Allowance don't report any breaks in care be it holiday, hospital / care home admission as they are not getting any payments from Carers but I won't go into detail about that as I feel it would confuse things for this thread.  These should be reported (for any carers reading this).

If the carers is in receipt of a means tested benefit for example Pension Credit (my forte) they would get the 4 weeks carers paid, when the customer is initally in hospital / care and if they pass away whilst in hospital / care they would get the 8 week run on of their carers allowance / carers premium on their benefits, including if they had to make a new claim to say Pension Credit or Universal Credit in their own right as long as there is no break in there claim   (Really important if making a new claim in own right to ask to have it back dated to the payday after the Disabled Persion passing which can be up to 3 months for Pension Credit, other benefits I'm unsure of the backdating rules for sorry).

i.e. Disabled Person passed away 01.07.22 and would be paid up to 03.07.22 taking it they are paid on a Monday for ease of the example

The carer would make a claim for benefit in their own right from 04.07.22 and if the disabled person had not been in hospital / care prior to passing away on 01.07.22 the paid carers allowance and associated premiums would be paid up to 28.08.22 with no further payments from Monday 29.08.22.

If any means tested benefits are in payment for the Carer, then they should be adjusted to take into account the paid carers being stopped, so the Pension Credit applicable amount for example would increase by the stopped paid carers allowance but have the Carers Premium removed which I believe would be the same for Universal Credit or other means tested benefits eg income related ESA.

This is why they will ask where the Disabled Person passed away, and the date for any admission to hospital / care / respite to make sure they are paying you the correct amount of money / run on of Carers Premium for any means tested benefits too.

Long term lurker / poster who lost their password and finally remembered it so thought I'd try and answer this.  Hopefully it makes sense, but any questions please just ask and if I can answer I will.

calcotti

cheekyweegit said:

Carers I believe are entitled to 4 weeks break in care in a 12 month period and can still get their paid Carers Allowance. 

Carers can have a break if they have provided care in 22 of the last 26 weeks or at least 14 of the last 26 weeks if the reason that care was not not provided for 22 weeks was that either the carer or cared for were in hospital/care home. (I admit I can't get my head around what that means in practice!).

cheekyweegit said:

If the carers is in receipt of a means tested benefit for example Pension Credit (my forte) they would get the 4 weeks carers paid, when the customer is initally in hospital / care and if they pass away whilst in hospital / care they would get the 8 week run on of their carers allowance / carers premium on their benefits,

That depends. If the cared for dies within 28 days of going into hospital what you say is correct. The carer would get the CA up to the date of death plus the 8 week run on from the Sunday following death or the day of death if that is a Sunday. If the cared for dies after 28 days the CA will have stopped and there will be no further entitlement.

SimonaN

cheekyweegit said:

I know this is an old thread but might be able to explain the hospital / 8 week rule after death.

If someone goes into hospital or a care / nursing home either for respite or permanently the Carer is entitled to the Carers allowance for 4 weeks during this period which aligns up with the disabled persons disability benefit remaining in payment during their initial stay in hospital / respite care / permanent care / nursing home provided there has been no other breaks in care previously. 

Carers I believe are entitled to 4 weeks break in care in a 12 month period and can still get their paid Carers Allowance.  Eg the Carer can go on holiday without the Disabled Person for 2 x 2 week periods and still get the paid Carers Allowance but really should report they are going away and return to Carers but many don't.

If the Carer themself ended up in hospital this should again be reported and they would still get the 4 weeks allowance then it would stop, but any Carers Premium would continue for 8 weeks after the Carers Allowance stopping meaning it could essentially be paid up to 12 weeks after the Carer or Disabled Person was admitted to hospital / care.

Many also, especially when getting underlying entitlement to Carers Allowance don't report any breaks in care be it holiday, hospital / care home admission as they are not getting any payments from Carers but I won't go into detail about that as I feel it would confuse things for this thread.  These should be reported (for any carers reading this).

If the carers is in receipt of a means tested benefit for example Pension Credit (my forte) they would get the 4 weeks carers paid, when the customer is initally in hospital / care and if they pass away whilst in hospital / care they would get the 8 week run on of their carers allowance / carers premium on their benefits, including if they had to make a new claim to say Pension Credit or Universal Credit in their own right as long as there is no break in there claim   (Really important if making a new claim in own right to ask to have it back dated to the payday after the Disabled Persion passing which can be up to 3 months for Pension Credit, other benefits I'm unsure of the backdating rules for sorry).

i.e. Disabled Person passed away 01.07.22 and would be paid up to 03.07.22 taking it they are paid on a Monday for ease of the example

The carer would make a claim for benefit in their own right from 04.07.22 and if the disabled person had not been in hospital / care prior to passing away on 01.07.22 the paid carers allowance and associated premiums would be paid up to 28.08.22 with no further payments from Monday 29.08.22.

If any means tested benefits are in payment for the Carer, then they should be adjusted to take into account the paid carers being stopped, so the Pension Credit applicable amount for example would increase by the stopped paid carers allowance but have the Carers Premium removed which I believe would be the same for Universal Credit or other means tested benefits eg income related ESA.

This is why they will ask where the Disabled Person passed away, and the date for any admission to hospital / care / respite to make sure they are paying you the correct amount of money / run on of Carers Premium for any means tested benefits too.

Long term lurker / poster who lost their password and finally remembered it so thought I'd try and answer this.  Hopefully it makes sense, but any questions please just ask and if I can answer I will.

Hello, I did not get pay anything after the person died.
They died on 1st of July and my next CA payment was due last week on Monday, however I got no payment.
I am left with no money.
I called DWP few times and they just said they don’t know and advices me to borrow money from family.
I was hoping to get at least the 8 weeks run on but I heard nothing about it, no letters from DWP, nothing.
I’m very sad as this all was shock for me and now I got no finance to pay my bills…

SimonaN

Update: just spoke to DWP again, said my account was closed and there is nothing they can do.
I said what about the 8 weeks run on- they said only certain people can get it- not everyone.
im not aware any reasons why I can’t get it, however they say no.

poppy12345

SimonaN said:

Update: just spoke to DWP again, said my account was closed and there is nothing they can do.
I said what about the 8 weeks run on- they said only certain people can get it- not everyone.
im not aware any reasons why I can’t get it, however they say no.

Unless they were in hospital for more than 28 days when they passed aways then the 8 week run on should apply. Did you apply for UC as advised in your other thread?

https://www.independentage.org/information/support-care/support-for-carers/when-your-caring-role-ends

calcotti

SimonaN said:

Update: just spoke to DWP again, said my account was closed and there is nothing they can do.

That isn’t true. Even if the claim has been closed you are still entitled to request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the decision to close the claim without paying the run on.