Carer's Allowance

If you look after a family member or friend with a disability or illness, including a terminal illness, you may be entitled to Carer's Allowance. We know the application process for benefits can be confusing. That's why we've put together this information about who can claim Carer's Allowance, how to claim it and where to go for further help.

Carer's Allowance is a benefit 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.

Carer's Allowance is not means-tested, so it is not based on your income or savings (although you do have to earn less than £151 a week after tax, National Insurance and expenses).

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

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

You'll also need to meet these conditions:

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's Allowance can be taxed and it can affect the benefits you or the person you care for receives.

If you're not eligible for Carer's Allowance, you may qualify for Carer's Credit.

You can only claim Carer's Allowance 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's Allowance if you share the care of someone, and the other carer is already claiming:

If you want to get Carer's Allowance, you could speak to the other carer about changing their benefits. If the other carer does not want to do this, The Department for Work and Pensions will decide who should receive the benefit.

Carer's Allowance is paid at a standard rate of £81.90 a week.

The special rules for terminal illness do not apply to this benefit, and there are no extra amounts if you care for someone with a terminal illness.

Check you're eligible for Carer's Allowance (see Can I claim Carer's Allowance? above).

Apply for the benefit. Before you claim Carer's Allowance, you must tell the person you're caring for, or their legal representative, that you're applying for this benefit.

If you're in England, Wales or Scotland:

You cannot make a claim by phone, but if you need help making your claim you can contact the Carer's Allowance Unit. Call 0800 731 0297, textphone 0800 731 0317, Relay UK 18001 then 0800 731 0297, or visit GOV.UK to access the British Sign Language video relay service.

Your claim can be backdated for up to three months if you were eligible. You do not have to give a reason for why you're claiming late.

If the person you're caring for has recently been awarded a qualifying benefit, try to claim Carer's Allowance within three months of the award. Their qualifying benefit is the benefit they get that means you can receive Carer's Allowance. This means your Carer's Allowance can be backdated to when they started their claim for the qualifying benefit – even if that was more than three months ago.

You can ask for your Carer's Allowance to be backdated when you apply. You should ask for this on the claim form where it asks 'When do you want your Carer's Allowance to start?'

Sometimes Carer's Allowance can be paid during breaks in care. You are not paid for breaks in care until you have been caring for at least 22 out of the last 26 weeks. Or, 14 out of the last 26 weeks, if you could not provide care for 22 weeks because you or the person you care for were in hospital. This can include time spent caring before a claim for Carer's Allowance.

In any 26-week period, Carer's Allowance will be paid for breaks of up to:

Officials count 'a week off' as a week when you spend less than 35 hours caring for the person. If you take odd days away, these are unlikely to affect your Carer's Allowance.

If you have a change in circumstances (like getting a job or stopping caring), you must tell The Department for Work and Pensions, or The Disability and Carers Service if you live in Northern Ireland (see Queries about existing claims below). Otherwise, you might be overpaid and may have to pay some money back.

If the person you care for goes into hospital, your Carer's Allowance will stop when their qualifying benefit stops. Their qualifying benefit is the benefit they get that means you can receive Carer's Allowance. Their qualifying benefit usually stops after 28 days.

If the person you are caring for dies, your Carer's Allowance payments will usually stop after eight weeks.

If the person you care for is getting benefits under the special rules for terminal illness and they go into a hospice, their disability benefit and your Carer's Allowance can continue unaffected. However, it's a good idea to check with the relevant government department, as the rules around this can be complicated.

Carer's Allowance can affect the other benefits that both you and the person you care for get.

When you get Carer's Allowance, the person you care for will usually stop getting:

You can check if their severe disability premium will stop by contacting whoever pays this benefit. This is usually Jobcentre Plus, their local council or the Pension Service helpline.

They might also stop getting reduced Council Tax. You can contact their local council to find out if this affects them.

You can claim Universal Credit at the same time as claiming Carer's Allowance. You will get an extra amount of Universal Credit called a Carer Element if you're eligible for Carer's Allowance. However, you do not have to be entitled to Carer's Allowance, to receive the Carer Element in Universal Credit. The rules for who is eligible for the Carer Element are the same as for Carer's Allowance, except there is no earnings limit for the Carer Element.

Universal Credit is replacing these benefits. If you get Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, you need to contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to tell them about your Carer's Allowance claim.

After you apply for Carer's Allowance, you might be able to get a Carer Premium in an existing award of income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Housing Benefit. This is a sum of money paid on top of certain benefits you're already getting. You can receive the Carer Premium even if you do not actually get paid Carer's Allowance.

If you receive Pension Credit and are entitled to Carer's Allowance, the Carer Addition will be added to your award. The Carer Addition can be added even if you are eligible for Carer's Allowance but do not receive it, for example because claim certain other benefits. This is sometimes called an underlying entitlement.

You cannot get the full amount of both Carer's Allowance and your State Pension at the same time.

If your State Pension is £81.90 a week or more, you will not be able to receive Carer's Allowance. If your State Pension is less than £81.90 a week, you'll be able to get a Carer's Allowance payment to make up the difference.

If you delay claiming your State Pension, this could increase the State Pension payments you get when you decide to claim it. You cannot build up extra State Pension during any period you get Carer's Allowance.

If you get a private or workplace pension, Carer's Allowance does not count as earnings, so you can be paid this on top of your pension.

If you're entitled to Carer's Allowance (even if it is not paid because of other benefits) you should be automatically awarded Class 1 National Insurance credits. This helps to protect your State Pension if you cannot work.

If you're not entitled to Carer's Allowance, you could be entitled to Carer's Credit.

If you have any queries about an existing Carer's Allowance claim or need to report a change in circumstances or those of the person you care for:

To report the death of the person you're caring for, visit GOV.UK to use the Tell Us Once service.

To report the death of the person you're caring for, visit nidirect to contact the Bereavement Service.

Some benefits can affect the other benefits that you or the person you care for get, 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).