Carers allowance allowable expenses

Cheryl2022

Hi 

So I am 

Rubyroobs

Do you get help with the childcare costs at all?

Cheryl2022

I receive universal credit at the moment so get some help with the costs from that 

Alice_Holt

Cheryl2022 said:

I receive universal credit at the moment so get some help with the costs from that 

   Then you need to tell UC about your caring responsibilities, and ask them to add the carers element to your claim.

   Any CA you receive will be deducted from your claim. 

  Your net increase in UC will be the c.£164 pm UC carers allowance.

calcotti

You didn't need to claim Carer's Allowance. You could have simply declared your caring responsibilities to UC and the UC carer element would have been added. Unlike CA itself there is no earnings limit for the carer element of UC.

If you are concerned about breaching the earnings limit you may be better not claiming the CA as you get no financial gain from it. If you are later found to have breached the earnings limit for any week you will be required to repay the CA.

The earnings limit for CA is gross pay minus NI, income tax and half of any pension contributions. If you are having pension contributions deducted from your pay this means that you actual net pay will be less than the amount used for CA.

In respect of expenses you can allow for the provision of child care and in the case of CA for care of a child or severely disabled person (see DMG 15800 et seq).
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/893673/dmgch15.pdf

15390  Deductions may be made for the provision of child care and in the case of CA for care of a child or severely disabled person (see DMG 15800 et seq).

15803  “Relevant child care charges” means the charges paid by someone for the care of a child of their family who is under age eleven at the beginning of the benefit week except those paid

1. for the child’s compulsory education or

2. by either member of a couple to the other for a child for whom either is responsible.

15804  To qualify the care must be provided by one of the following

1. a childminder or day care provider registered under specific legislation

2. where the child is aged eight but under eleven at the beginning of the benefit week, out of school hours by a school on school premises, or by a LA

3. a child care scheme run on Crown property where registration under specific legislation3 is not required

4. certain schools or other establishments exempted from registration under specific legislation4

5. provided the care provided is childminding or day care of children within the meaning of specific legislation5 (see DMG 15805),

If you are getting help with the costs from UC then you would logically only be able to deduct the balance that you actually pay for CA purposes (but i can't find anything that actually says that).

Alice_Holt

Plus UC and CA don't always communicate effectively. 
You may find UC deducting the CA when you didn't receive it, (due to complications of earning above the CA limit) 

Cheryl2022

Thank you for all your replies that's really helpful.

the reason I have applied for carers allowance is that I am planning on leaving my job as I can't juggle both caring and working at the moment, but I can't afford to leave work until I know I have that money coming in - so what I was wondering is can I still claim the childcare costs if I only got the carers element on UC and not carers allowance as my partner would be the only one working and I thought it had to be both of you? Thanks x it's all so confusing

calcotti

Cheryl2022 said:..I am planning on leaving my job as I can't juggle both caring and working at the moment, but I can't afford to leave work until I know I have that money coming in ...

The point is that as you are claiming UC you get no financial benefit from CA because the CA is deducted in full from the UC. The important thing is to get the carer element added to UC because that increases your UC - you don’t need to claim CA to get the carer element.

However if you are going to stop work so the earnings limit is no longer a concern then claiming CA will get you Class 1 NI credits instead of just the class 3 you get through UC.

In general you are correct that you would not be able to claim childcare costs after you stop work because you both need to be in work. However there is an exception.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1032781/admf7.pdf

F7013 Where only one of the couple is in paid work, the work condition described at F7010.1 is still met if the partner who is not working is unable to provide childcare themselves because they

1. have LCW (See ADM Chapter F5) or

2. have regular and substantial caring responsibilities for a severely disabled person (See ADM Chapter

F6) or

3. are temporarily absent from the claimant’s household1 (See ADM Chapter E2).

Example
The UC benefit unit comprises of Ben, Sara and their daughter Pauline. Ben works as a cleaner for 2 days each week, Sara does not work but is unable to look after Pauline whilst Ben is at work because she is providing full time care for her disabled mother who also lives with them. For the purpose of the work condition both Ben and Sara satisfy the paid work test.

So whether or not you can claim childcare costs depends on whether your caring responsibilities are for your child or for someone else.

Cheryl2022

Oh okay that's added to my concerns then I thought that if I was a carer I'd still be able to get help with my childcare costs through universal credit  

calcotti

Cheryl2022 said:

Oh okay that's added to my concerns then I thought that if I was a carer I'd still be able to get help with my childcare costs through universal credit  

As advised, it depends who the disabled person you are caring for is. If you being paid benefit to care for your disabled child then you can’t claim childcare costs for the child. If you are caring for somebody else which means you cannot care for your child then you can claim childcare costs. I’m not clear what the rules mean when you have a disabled child and other children.

Cheryl2022

It's my elderly grandma, she qualifies higher rate attendance allowance so if it's best that I don't claim carers allowance because she will
lose some of her benefits and I can claim for my children's childcare costs I'll just put in for the carers element instead