Martin Lewis grills Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on carer's allowance cliff-edge

trekker2002

I think Martin would be better encouraging people to be fully aware of the rules and ensure they stay within them. I received Carers Allowance in the past for a few years and I fell foul of the income limit due to a pay rise when the limit was only £95 a week. I swiftly read the rules and discovered that if I paid into a Personal pension then 50% of the payment would be counted to reduce my pay. I opened a stakeholder pension and worked out precisely how much I needed to pay in to get myself back under the earnings limit. For me it was £30 a month. I called DWP and the CA stayed in payment.

I kept the Pension going even after my CA ended due to my mother’s death and increased payments as my earnings increased. Now 17 years later I have a nice pension pot of a few thousand pounds, partly funded by that Carers Allowance. 

HillStreetBlues

trekker2002 said:

I think Martin would be better encouraging people to be fully aware of the rules and ensure they stay within them. I received Carers Allowance in the past for a few years and I fell foul of the income limit due to a pay rise when the limit was only £95 a week. I swiftly read the rules and discovered that if I paid into a Personal pension then 50% of the payment would be counted to reduce my pay. I opened a stakeholder pension and worked out precisely how much I needed to pay in to get myself back under the earnings limit. For me it was £30 a month. I called DWP and the CA stayed in payment.

I kept the Pension going even after my CA ended due to my mother’s death and increased payments as my earnings increased. Now 17 years later I have a nice pension pot of a few thousand pounds, partly funded by that Carers Allowance. 

But that doesn't make as good TV as "grilling" a Chancellor.
I do agree with the view as asking the current or next Chancellor to increase the welfare bill is just a waste of words, completely pointless.