Carers Allowance and Council Tax!

MoodyMand45

My friend wants to leave her full time job to look after her mom who is ill and on DLA I think, However She wants to claim Carers Allowance to do it.
She lives in her own home and her mom lives in a small flat.
I told her to think first because Carers Allowance is very low income and I  think you have to pay Council Tax if you don't live at the address where care is given, Does anyone know the rules on this in particular the Council Tax thing.

sammyjammy

Not sure what council tax has to do with anything, you've not given enough info to advise but dependant on her household income she can make a claim for council tax benefit, her mums property doesn't come into it.

Alice_Holt

I'd suggest your friend and her mum both get a benefit check at their local advice charity.
She will then know exactly what her income is likely to be.

In addition to CA, (c£82pw) she should look at claiming UC (does she rent?).
If she has savings below £6k / £16k and a low income she may be eligible for CT support (note that rules / eligibility vary from LA to LA).  

MoodyMand45

sammyjammy said:

Not sure what council tax has to do with anything, you've not given enough info to advise but dependant on her household income she can make a claim for council tax benefit, her mums property doesn't come into it.

OK thanks I forgot about CT Benefit

MoodyMand45

Alice_Holt said:

I'd suggest your friend and her mum both get a benefit check at their local advice charity.
She will then know exactly what her income is likely to be.

In addition to CA, (c£82pw) she should look at claiming UC (does she rent?).
If she has savings below £6k / £16k and a low income she may be eligible for CT support (note that rules / eligibility vary from LA to LA).  

Thanks, She owns her home although I don't know if she still pays mortgage, She has been in full time work for as long as I can remember so might be over the money limits for UC Carers Premium also, I will tell her to get a benefit check done.

Brie

Does her mom get attendance allowance?  There are a range of benefits mom might be receiving and that must be sorted first before your friend applies for carer's allowance.  No matter how ill/disabled someone is there's no guarantee that AA or any other benefit will be granted immediately but the sooner that is applied for the better.  Applications tend to be greeted by the horrid "computer says no" attitude so be prepared to have to appeal applications, sometimes repeatedly.  This is one of the reasons it's best to get someone who is used to doing these applications to help - like citizen's advice or perhaps an organisation related to mom's illness (Macmillan or Age UK etc)

Once AA or whatever else is sorted out CA will be a doddle.  

Carer's Allowance: How it works - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Cyclamen

You say mum is claiming DLA if this is the case do not put a claim in for Attendance allowance without checking a few things first. 
AA is for people of pension age.  If they already recieve DLA before reaching the AA age they can keep receiving their DLA. Attendance allowance does not assess mobility needs so if Mum has a mobility component it may be better for her to stay on it. 

Its one to check with benefits advisors before actioning.. i cant remember all the details but my Mum is still on DLA and my Dad on PIP although both pension age. 

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Living alone and nobody claiming carers allowance may mean Mum gets some sort of premium on pension credit/ UC.  By having someone claim carers allowance this can go down.. so another one to check with the benefits advisors.

So my advise is be cautious before doing anything, get the benefits checks, talk through options with advisor before starting a new claim for anything. 

FlorayG

You are correct, you pay council tax on the property where you live. However, if each of them lives alone then they both get 25% single occupancy discount