4. Claiming carer support payment
Carer support payment (CSP) is administered by Social Security Scotland (SSS). You claim online at , by telephone on 0800 182 2222 or on the approved form. SSS advises you must claim by phone if you want to request backdating of more than 13 weeks.
Your claim can be backdated for up to 13 weeks if you qualified during that earlier period.
It can be backdated further if:1Regs 18, 18A, 18B and 19 CSP Regs •you claim within 13 weeks of the person you care for being awarded a disability benefit. Your claim is treated as made on the date you first qualified for CSP. If your entitlement under this rule would begin before CSP was introduced (19 November 2023), you can be treated as claiming carer’s allowance (CA) for the earlier period and awarded CSP. Official guidance suggests that you may not be awarded CSP for any period before 19 November 2023 if you do not meet the CA rules – eg, you were in full-time education. However, arguably this is not what the law says. Get advice if you are in this situation;
•you are a full-time student carer and claim CSP within 13 weeks of it rolling out in your area. You can backdate entitlement to, at the earliest, 19 November 2023 (or to when you met the conditions, if later);
•you are a 16-19-year-old carer in full-time further education who would be eligible for UC, and you claim CSP within 13 weeks of it rolling out in your area. You can backdate entitlement to 23 June 2024, at the earliest (or to when you met the conditions, if later);
•you have lived in the UK for less than two years, so could not qualify for CA but you meet the ‘past presence test’ for CSP (for details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook, available for subscribers), and you claim CSP within 13 weeks of it rolling out in your area. You can backdate entitlement to, at the earliest, 19 November 2023 (or to when you met the conditions, if later).
If you ask for backdating under the education or past presence test rules above, but later than 13 weeks after CSP rolls out in your area, backdating is still possible if you have good reason for applying late.
Benefit is usually paid directly into a bank account, four weeks in arrears. In some cases, payment may be made weekly in advance.
Only one person can qualify for CSP, CA and/or the carer element of UC for caring for the same disabled person. If you and another person claim for the same person and both meet the entitlement conditions, you can agree who should be entitled. You should inform SSS of your decision in writing (signed by you both). If you cannot agree, SSS decides who is entitled (consulting the DWP if applicable), and taking into account:
•the best interests of the person you care for; and
•whether you and the other person who claimed are related to the person you care for, live with or near them, or get any benefits on behalf of or in respect of them; and
•any other relevant information.
If you get a determination that you are not entitled to CSP under these rules, you can request a redetermination.