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Help if you are an unpaid carer
Unpaid carers
Always get a full benefit check to determine which benefits you are entitled to and the amounts you should receive. Then, if you’re caring for someone, use the checklist below for ideas of other help you may qualify for to maximise your income and reduce your expenditure.
This checklist is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the benefits or help for which you might qualify and is not a full statement of the law. Get specialist advice when appropriate.
If you are caring for someone who gets a disability benefit
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you care for someone who gets:
    •the highest or middle rate of the care component of disability living allowance or child disability payment;
    •the daily living component of personal independence payment or adult disability payment;
    •attendance allowance;
    •armed forces independence payment; or
    •in certain circumstances, constant attendance allowance.
Check your entitlement to carer’s allowance (CA) or, if you live in one of the areas in Scotland in which it has been introduced, to carer support payment (CSP). You may qualify if:
    •you care for them for at least 35 hours a week; and
    •either you are not in paid employment, or your earnings from work (after certain expenses are deducted) are low enough.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Claiming CA or CSP may affect the benefit entitlement of the person you are caring for. See the note below.
Note that:
    •CA and CSP are taken into account in full as income for means-tested benefits and tax credits. However, if you or your partner get income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, housing benefit, or pension credit, claiming CA or CSP may increase your overall benefit entitlement. This is because they entitle you to a carer's premium or carer's addition within those benefits. See below: If you or your partner get a legacy benefit or If you are over state pension age.
    •You can qualify for a carer element within your universal credit (UC) without claiming CA or CSP. See below: If you are getting UC.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
CPAG in Scotland:
GOV.UK:
mygov.scot:
gov.scot:
If you are getting another earnings replacement benefit (eg, retirement pension), and would not be paid CA or CSP because of the overlapping benefit rules, check if it is still worth claiming in order to establish an ‘underlying entitlement' to CA or CSP.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Claiming CA or CSP may affect the benefit entitlement of the person you are caring for. See the note below.
Note that:
    •If you or your partner get income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, housing benefit, or pension credit, establishing an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP can qualify you for a carer's premium or carer's addition within those benefits. See below: If you or your partner get a legacy benefit or If you are over state pension age.
    •You can qualify for a carer element within your universal credit (UC) without claiming CA or CSP. See row below: If you are getting UC.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Carer's allowance:
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
Carer support payment:
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
mygov.scot:
If you are getting UC, check whether a carer element can be included in your award.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Getting a carer element within your UC may affect the benefit entitlement of the person you are caring for. See the note below this table.
Note that:
    •if you meet the conditions for both a limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) element and a carer element, you get only the LCWRA element. In this situation, if you have a partner who also qualifies for the limited capability for work-related activity element and/or the carer element, both elements can be included;
    •if you get the transitional SDP element within your UC or you have transferred to UC under the managed migration process and you get a transitional element within your UC, your transitional SDP element or transitional element is likely to be eroded if you subsequently become entitled to a carer element.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you are resident in Scotland and get CA or CSP on the qualifying date, you may also qualify for carer’s allowance supplement.
Carer’s allowance supplement is ignored when working out your income for means-tested benefits and tax credits.
You do not qualify for carer’s allowance supplement if you only:
    •have established an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP, or
    •get the carer element within UC and do not get CA or CSP.
If you get UC and are resident in Scotland, consider claiming either CA or, if you are in one of the areas in which it has been introduced, CSP in order to qualify for carer’s allowance supplement. If you meet the qualifying conditions, CA can be backdated for up to three months and CSP can be backdated for up to 13 weeks, which might help you meet the conditions for carer's allowance supplement. In some circumstances your CA or CSP can be backdated for longer than this. Get a benefit check before claiming; as CA and CSP count as income for UC they may affect your continued entitlement to UC.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Claiming CA or CSP may affect the benefit entitlement of the person you are caring for. See the note below.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
mygov.scot:
If you live in Scotland (or, in some circumstances, have a sufficient link to Scotland) and are aged 16, 17 or 18, check your entitlement to a young carer grant. You usually cannot qualify for a young carer grant if you have already claimed CA or CSP.
If you also meet the qualifying conditions for CA or (if you live in one of the areas in which you can claim it) CSP, get advice about whether it would be financially beneficial to claim a young carer grant first, and then claim CA or CSP.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
CPAG in Scotland:
mygov.scot:
If you are caring for someone who is getting a disability benefit but is not getting the maximum amount of that benefit.
Check if they might qualify for a higher amount of disability benefit.
CPAG Welfare Rights:
Note: If the person you care for gets or would qualify for:
    •a severe disability premium within their income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment support allowance, or housing benefit; or
    •a severe disability addition within their pension credit
get advice before claiming CA, CSP or requesting a carer element in your UC. This is because their benefit entitlement may be reduced if you get CA, CSP or a UC carer element. Their benefit will not be affected if you just establish an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers): Severe disability premium and severe disability addition
If you are caring for someone who is not getting a disability benefit
See Help for ill health and disability to see if they may qualify.
If you are affected by the benefit cap
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you are getting universal credit (UC) or working-age housing benefit and are affected by the benefit cap
If you, your partner or a child or young person you are responsible for get carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP) or if your UC includes a carer element you are exempt from the benefit cap.
If you meet the qualifying conditions, consider either claiming CA or, if you live in Scotland in one of the areas in which it has been introduced, CSP, or asking the DWP to revise or supersede their decision on your entitlement to UC to include a carer element, if you are not already getting any of them.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Get advice before claiming CA, CSP or requesting a carer element in your UC if the person you care for gets or would qualify for:
    •a severe disability premium within their income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment support allowance, or housing benefit; or
    •a severe disability addition within their PC.
This is because their benefit entitlement may be reduced if you get CA or CSP (although it is not affected if you are not paid CA or CSP but just establish an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP) or if you get the UC carer element.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you or your partner get a legacy benefit
Legacy benefits are:
    •income support (IS);
    •income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA);
    •income-related employment and support allowance (ESA);
    •working-age housing benefit (HB);
    •working tax credit (WTC); and
    •child tax credit (CTC).
    Your circumstances
    What to check
    More information
    If you get carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP) or have established an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP
    If you or your partner get:
      •IS;
      •income-based JSA;
      •income-related ESA; or
      •HB
    your award should include a carer premium.
    Check whether a carer premium has been included in your award and if it has not, consider asking the DWP to revise or supersede its decision on your entitlement.
    Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
    If you get WTC and you pay for ‘relevant childcare’ for a child for whom you or your partner are responsible, check if you qualify for a childcare element within your maximum WTC.
    One of the circumstances in which you might qualify for a childcare element is if you get CA or CSP, or have established an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP, and your partner works for at least 16 hours a week.
    Note that: you now cannot make a new claim for tax credits unless:
      •you are already getting CTC when you make a new claim for WTC; or
      •you are already getting WTC when you make a new claim for CTC.
    Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
    GOV.UK:
    If you have not yet received a 'migration notice' (a letter telling you your legacy benefit will be ending and inviting you to claim universal credit (UC))
    Check whether you would be better off on UC.
    Note that: before deciding whether to claim UC you should also consider other differences between UC and your legacy benefit, including the work-related requirements and payment arrangements for UC, and the need to manage an online claim (or the difficulties associated with a telephone claim).
    Description: warning-icon-v3 Claiming UC ends your entitlement to legacy benefits. Once you have submitted a UC claim you will not be able to reclaim a legacy benefit, even if your claim for UC is unsuccessful, or you are worse off on UC. An exception applies if you are living in 'specified accommodation' or certain kinds of temporary accommodation, when you can get housing benefit as well as UC.
    Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you are over state pension age
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you or your partner get carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP) or have established an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP
If you are not already getting pension credit (PC), check if you qualify.
If you are a member of a couple, you may qualify if both you and your partner are over state pension age, or in certain circumstances, if you are over pension age and your partner is not.
If you qualify for PC, you should get a carer addition within your award.
If you are already getting PC, check if you have a carer addition included in your award and if a carer addition is not included, consider asking the DWP to revise or supersede its decision on your entitlement.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you have not claimed CA or CSP
Check if you are entitled to CA or, if you live in Scotland in one of the areas in which it has been introduced, CSP and if you are not already getting it, check if you are entitled to PC. If you or your partner get CA or CSP, or establish an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP, you qualify for a carer addition within your PC.
Description: warning-icon-v3 Get advice before claiming CA or CSP if the person you care for gets or would qualify for:
    •a severe disability premium within their income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment support allowance, or housing benefit; or
    •a severe disability addition within their PC.
This is because their benefit entitlement may be reduced if you get CA or CSP (although it is not affected if you are not paid CA or CSP but just establish an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP).
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you are not paying national insurance contributions
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you are under state pension age and you get carer’s allowance (CA), carer support payment (CSP) or universal credit (UC)
You should automatically be credited with national insurance (NI) contributions if you get CA, CSP or UC.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you are under state pension age and you do not get CA, CSP or UC
Unless you are credited with NI contributions on another ground (eg, if you get child benefit for a child aged under 12), check whether you qualify for NI credits on the ground that you are a carer.
You may qualify for a class 3 NI credit for each week in which you care for someone for at least 20 hours (or you care for more than one person for a total of at least 20 hours). You must apply for these credits; they are not awarded automatically.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:
If you are not well enough to work
If you are not well enough to work, see Help for ill health or disability. In addition, if you are under state pension age, see the information below.
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you do not qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP)
Check your entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA), if you are not already getting it.
The first national insurance contribution condition for contributory ESA is relaxed and sufficient contributions paid in any one tax year can satisfy the condition if, in the last complete tax year before your ‘relevant benefit year’, you were entitled to carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP) or had an underlying entitlement to CA or CSP.
Note that: as contributory ESA, CA and CSP are affected by the overlapping benefit rules, you may not be paid CA or CSP if contributory ESA is paid to you, but the weekly rate of ESA is generally higher than CA or CSP.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
GOV.UK:


If you would like support or help with being a carer
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you live in England
Consider applying for a carer’s assessment from your local authority.
NHS:
Check discount schemes.
Carers UK:
Carers First:
If you need a short break, or respite care, check if you can get help with the cost.
NHS:
Carers Trust:
Carers UK:
If you live in Wales
Consider applying for a carer’s assessment from your local authority.
Carers UK:
Check discount schemes.
Carers UK:
Carers First:
If you need a short break, or respite care, check if you can get help with the cost.
Carers Trust:
Carers UK:
If you live in Scotland
If you are aged 18 or over and do not count as a young carer, consider applying for an adult carer’s support plan from the local authority in which the person you care for lives.
gov.scot:
Carers UK:
The information for Scotland is in a downloadable PDF.
If you are aged under 18 or aged 18 and still at school (ie, you count as a young carer), consider applying for a young carer statement from your local authority.
gov.scot:
Carers UK:
The information for Scotland is in a downloadable PDF.
If the person you care for dies
See Help if you have been bereaved and consider the following.
Your circumstances
What to check
More information
If you get carer’s allowance (CA) or carer support payment (CSP)
If you meet the other conditions for CA or CSP, you continue to be entitled to it for eight weeks after the person you care for dies. The eight weeks runs from the Sunday after their death or, for CA, if they die on a Sunday from that day.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
Carer's allowance:
Carer support payment:
If you get universal credit (UC)
If the person you care for dies and you are getting a carer element in your UC, your entitlement to it continues for the monthly assessment period in which they died, and for the next two assessment periods after that, as your maximum amount of UC is calculated in the same way over that period.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):
If you get a legacy benefit, pension credit (PC) or pension-age housing benefit
If you get:
    •a carer premium in your award of:
      ◦income support
      ◦income-based jobseeker’s allowance
      ◦income-related employment support allowance;
      ◦housing benefit; or
    •a carer addition in your award of PC
your entitlement to a carer premium/carer addition should continue for eight weeks. The eight weeks runs from the Sunday after their death, or if they die on a Sunday from that day.
Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers):

Last updated on 16 April 2024