Carer Support Payment

If you look after a family member or friend with a disability or illness, you may be entitled to Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment depending on where you live. Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance in Scotland. If you or the person you care for has a terminal illness and you're eligible, you may be able to be paid Carer Support Payment weekly in advance.

You cannot claim Carer Support Payment and Carer's Allowance at the same time.

We know the application process for benefits can be confusing, especially when benefits change. That's why we've put together this information about who can claim Carer Support Payment, how to claim it and where to go for further help.

Carer Support Payment is a new benefit which has replaced Carer's Allowance for people in Scotland. It is for people who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who needs regular and substantial care. This usually means they would not be able to manage everyday tasks without your help.

If you live in Scotland, you may also be able to get Carer's Allowance Supplement.

You may be able to claim Carer Support Payment if you earn £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and expenses.

Carer Support Payment is only available in Scotland. It became available across Scotland in November 2024.

If you live in Scotland and already get Carer's Allowance, you do not need to apply for Carer Support Payment. Your Carer's Allowance will automatically be replaced by Carer Support Payment between now and Spring 2025.

If you live anywhere else across the UK, you can apply for Carer's Allowance.

Always check with the person you're caring for before you apply for Carer Support Payment, as it could affect some of their benefits (see Carer Support Payment and other benefits below).

The person you care for must be claiming one of these benefits:

You'll also need to meet these conditions:

If you've recently moved to Scotland or live outside of Scotland, you might still be eligible.

If you study, you may be eligible depending on your age, the type of course you're doing, and whether you study part-time or full-time.

You do not have to be related to, or live with, the person you're caring for.

You do not have to keep time sheets or a diary to prove you've cared for someone for 35 hours.

Carer Support Payment can be taxed and it can affect the benefits you or the person you care for receives. Mygov.scot has more information about how Carer Support Payment affects different benefits.

It’s a good idea to check with a benefits adviser to make sure you do not lose money overall.

State Pension and Carer Support Payment cannot normally be paid at the same time.

If you receive a State Pension, you will only receive Carer Support Payment if your State Pension is less than the weekly amount of Carer Support Payment.
In these cases, your Carer Support Payment will top your State Pension up to the weekly Carer Support Payment rate (£81.90 per week).

If your State Pension is higher than Carer Support Payment, you will not receive any Carer Support Payment. But, you will have what is known as underlying entitlement. This might mean you can claim other benefits, or get an increase in your existing benefits.

The rules around this are quite complicated, so it’s a good idea to ask for help. You can get support from:

If you live in Scotland and already get Carer’s Allowance, you do not need to apply for Carer Support Payment. Your Carer’s Allowance will automatically be replaced by Carer Support Payment between now and Spring 2025.

If your circumstances change, tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). They may transfer you to Carer Support Payment.

Carer Support Payment is £81.90 a week.

If you already get Carer’s Allowance, you do not need to apply for Carer Support Payment. You will be automatically transferred.

If you do not get Carer’s Allowance, follow these steps:

You can apply:

You may find it helpful to look at the application form to see what questions you will be asked before you apply.

Carer Support Payment can usually be backdated for 13 weeks. If you want to have it backdated for more than 13 weeks, this might be possible depending on your circumstances.

Backdating your payments may affect other benefits.

You do not get extra money for Carer Support Payment if you have a terminal illness or you care for someone with a terminal illness. But you may:

Whether the person qualifies as having a terminal illness depends on the special rules for their qualifying benefit. The qualifying benefit is the benefit they get that means you qualify for Carer Support Payment.

For Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment in Scotland, a terminal illness is:

For other benefits, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance, a terminal illness is:

Contact Social Security Scotland if you:

If you or the person you care for gets Adult Disability Payment or Child Disability Payment under the special rules for terminal illness, Social Security Scotland should contact you to ask if you want to be paid weekly in advance. If they do not, you can contact them.

If you or the person you care for qualifies for the special rules under a different benefit, you can ask to be paid weekly in advance by reporting a change in circumstances.

If you have already applied for Carer Support Payment, tell Social Security Scotland that your circumstances have changed and you or the person you care for has a terminal illness.

If you or the person you care for has a terminal illness, you can get paid Carer Support Payment every week in advance. It is normally paid every four weeks, at the end of the four weeks or every week at the end of the week if you’ve moved from Carer’s Allowance.

To qualify for weekly payments in advance, you or they must get their qualifying benefit under the special rules for terminal illness.

If you have recently moved to Scotland, you may be eligible for Carer Support Payment. If you or the person you care for has a terminal illness, you do not need to have lived in the Common Travel Area (UK, Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man) for at least 26 of the last 52 weeks.

You may be able to get your Carer Support Payment backdated for longer than 13 weeks if you or the person you care for has a terminal illness.

If you live in Angus, North Lanarkshire or South Lanarkshire you should've applied before 22 September 2024.

If you live in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Fife or Moray, you should've applied before 17 November 2024.

If you’ve missed these deadlines, contact Social Security Scotland for more information.

If you want to backdate for more than 13 weeks, you need to apply on the phone, in person or on a video call.

There are different rules for backdating if you’re a student.

Carer Support Payment can sometimes be paid during breaks in care. This depends on:

The person you care for must continue to receive their disability benefit.

For example, you may get Carer Support Payment for breaks of up to 4 weeks if you or the person is on holiday, or up to 12 weeks if you or the person you care for is in hospital.

If the person you are caring for dies, your Carer Support Payment will usually stop after 8 weeks, as long as you still meet the other conditions.

You can only claim Carer Support Payment for caring for one person. You do not get paid extra if you care for more than one person.

If you care for more than one person, you cannot add together the time you spend caring for each of them to make 35 hours.

You cannot get Carer Support Payment if you share the care of someone, and the other carer is already claiming:

If you want to get Carer Support Payment, you could speak to the other carer about changing their benefits. If the other carer does not want to do this, Social Security Scotland will decide who should receive the benefit.

If your circumstances change, you need to let Social Security Scotland know. This includes things like changes to the care you provide or changes to your earnings.

If you’re paid too much, they might have to reduce your payments, ask for the money back or take other steps to fix it. In some cases, legal action may be taken.

If you have any queries about an existing Carer Support Payment claim, you can call Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 for free.

If you’re calling from outside the UK, call +44 (0)138 2931 000. This call is not free, but you can ask Social Security Scotland to call you back.

If you use British Sign Language (BSL), you can get in touch with Social Security Scotland by using the Contact Scotland app.

The benefits system and finding out what you can claim can be confusing. So, it's important you have the right information and advice. Here are some organisations that can provide further support:

Here at Marie Curie, we cannot provide information about your specific benefit claim. For all queries about claims, you'll need to contact the relevant government department (see Queries about existing claims above).