Carers Allowance and backdated payrise

housebuyer143

I claim carers allowance and the union is still discussing our pay rise and so it's likely we will get a back dated one in the coming months. With this in mind, will I lose my carers allowance if they pay the backdated pay in one go or will it be fine if I explain what this payment is for to CA?
I will still be under the threshold with the proposed increase.

Alice_Holt

Are you paid weekly or monthly ?

housebuyer143

Alice_Holt said:

Are you paid weekly or monthly ?

I am paid monthly...

huckster

Just contact Carers Allowance once you have the details. You will lose entitlement for the period in which you actually receive the larger than normal wages due to backdated pay increase, but if you have confirmed ongoing wages less than the threshold, then the benefit should then continue as normal.

housebuyer143

huckster said:

Just contact Carers Allowance once you have the details. You will lose entitlement for the period in which you actually receive the larger than normal wages due to backdated pay increase, but if you have confirmed ongoing wages less than the threshold, then the benefit should then continue as normal.

So even though the payment is for a different months etc, and will probably only be £50 max I am likely to lose the months entitlement? 
Will they not understand it's actually a £5 a week increase over how many months just paid late? If they pay more than £40 extra in my pay then I'll be over the allowance for the month. 

If this is the case I will just ask my work to forgo paying any backpay to me, because I can't afford to lose £360 because they couldn't agree the payrise in time. 

huckster

Check with Carers Allowance to see if they would refer to a Decision Maker to see if they can accept that the back payment amount of wages should be Disregarded.

Alice_Holt

housebuyer143 said:

Alice_Holt said:

Are you paid weekly or monthly ?

I am paid monthly...

         So a couple things to consider as a month of CA not being paid due to excess earnings in that month is significant: 

    i) It is possible to average out pay over a number of periods (monthly in your case).  I'd suggest setting out a spreadsheet for the period covered by the backpay showing actual pay and the backpay allocated over the months to which it relates to show that the resulting figure is below the £139pw / £151 (24/25) earnings limit.
   This would need to be accompanied by a employer letters / documents clearly confirming the backpay and the months to which it relates.
  Also a letter from yourself to the DWP Carers Unit explaining this, asking for the backpay to be averaged over the relevant months, and explaining that this arose due to protracted employer / union negotiations and you do not feel your CA should be ended as a consequence as you have always kept earnings within the limit.

If CA refuse your request, then take it to tribunal.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/problems-with-benefits-and-tax-credits/challenging-benefit-decisions/challenging-a-decision-by-the-dwp-or-hmrc/appealing-against-a-benefit-decision/ 

    ii)  Increase your pension contributions for the month it's paid, to get you below the earnings limit (50% of pension contributions count as a valid deduction). 
         https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/carers-allowance/carer-s-allowance-and-the-earnings-limit/    (Q2)

housebuyer143

Alice_Holt said:

housebuyer143 said:

Alice_Holt said:

Are you paid weekly or monthly ?

I am paid monthly...

         So a couple things to consider as a month of CA not being paid due to excess earnings in that month is significant: 

    i) It is possible to average out pay over a number of periods (monthly in your case).  I'd suggest setting out a spreadsheet for the period covered by the backpay showing actual pay and the backpay allocated over the months to which it relates to show that the resulting figure is below the £139pw / £151 (24/25) earnings limit.
   This would need to be accompanied by a employer letters / documents clearly confirming the backpay and the months to which it relates.
  Also a letter from yourself to the DWP Carers Unit explaining this, asking for the backpay to be averaged over the relevant months, and explaining that this arose due to protracted employer / union negotiations and you do not feel your CA should be ended as a consequence as you have always kept earnings within the limit.

If CA refuse your request, then take it to tribunal.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/problems-with-benefits-and-tax-credits/challenging-benefit-decisions/challenging-a-decision-by-the-dwp-or-hmrc/appealing-against-a-benefit-decision/ 

    ii)  Increase your pension contributions for the month it's paid, to get you below the earnings limit (50% of pension contributions count as a valid deduction). 
         https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/carers-allowance/carer-s-allowance-and-the-earnings-limit/    (Q2)

Thank you. Really helpful. I already put a large chunk into the pension and it's hard to just pay extra from my employer because it's a direct benefit pension and I have myself buying extra years, which means I can't fluctuate the payment. That was my mistake and when that ends in September I'll set up a defined contributions one to solve that.  

I'll do as you said once it's been agreed and hopefully I don't lose the money 🤞🤞