AIBU to be angry about the benefits system

[Daffodilsinfebruary]

I have recently discovered by using a free, independent benefits calculator called entitledto that had I applied for Universal Credit over 2 years ago, me and my family would be over £16,000 better off.

I had assumed that benefits were for either single-parent families or people unable to work due to disability.

The majority of our savings would have been from claiming 85% back in childcare costs. We also would have had a payout of over £200 each month in addition.

For context, we bring in just shy off £4,000 a month. I thought this was a very reasonable income and we would be entitled to nil.

I feel angry that we did not know about this. A friend of mine who I met through our children attending the same nursery told me she claims 85% back in childcare costs during a conversation in which I complained of my childcare going up £150.

I did further research and 19 billion pounds apparently goes unclaimed every year.

I’ve never claimed benefits in all my life and worked hard to get on the property ladder.

should I be angry that we didn’t claim, or take it in my stride.

I wonder how many other families who could have claimed but haven’t.

It is an allowance to help pay for the care of someone. That means someone outside of the home can do the job.

No it’s not. It wouldn’t go far if that was what carer’s allowance is for. How many hours of care do you think £81.90 pw will fund? In order to be eligible for carer’s allowance the carer has to be providing 35hrs of care a week.

The family should not assume it is their given rights to claim carers allowance if they can go out to work and allow another carer to help.

Except if the cared for person is receiving one of the relevant benefits a carer caring for them for 35hrs is entitled to carer’s allowance. That is a right. Even the government recognise many carers are unable to work. That’s why they don’t have any work requirements on UC and on legacy benefits could claim income support (subject to meeting the other eligibility criteria, obviously).

The whole post is absolute bollocks. Carers allowance is paid to the carer, and is for the benefit of the carer, not the disabled person. To qualify, the person being cared for has to be in receipt of middle or higher rate care component of DLA, Child DLA, Attendance Allowance or PIP. The person claiming carers allowance must be caring for the person for at least 35 hours a week and not be earning any more than £151 a week from paid employment after tax, NI and allowable deductions. And carers are not provided by the government. Local authorities provide home based or residential care based on need and it’s means tested on the income and savings of the person being cared for, including certain benefits they receive - in the case of residential care, any assets such as property, including the home they live in is included.

I think you've misunderstood. It's a recognition that the person who cares is unable to be gainfully employed and it gives a token payment with the more important NI credits.

The rate is £81 per week. That would only enable care of around 4 hours per week.

If someone was going out to work and was gainfully employed, they would stop being entitled to carer's allowance.

You have badly misunderstood.

Paid carers are provided by the local authority based on need and means tested on the income, savings and assets of the person being cared for. I think what you’re talking about here is the alternative to that in the form of direct payments from the local authority which can be used to buy in care services. Carers allowance is paid to the carer and is not included in the assessment.

Exactly. So use the allowance to pay someone else to care. Not keep it is a family income. Go out to work yourselves and have another life to compliment your disabled live in persons life. Holistic yes? Rewarding for all? Definitely. Improving society. Without say

You're really not getting it, are you?? It's a taxable benefit for unpaid carers, who are the backbone of society. See what the social care bill is without us!!

No. Carers allowance can be claimed by anyone looking after the disabled person for more than 35 hours a week, as long as the disabled person is claiming qualifying benefits as detailed upthread. It’s mostly claimed by family members as they are more often than not the main carers. And it’s paid for the benefit of the carer not the disabled person. The carer can personally earn up to £151 a week after deductions from paid employment and still claim carers allowance, so, yes, it’s part of household income.

You can’t use the unpaid carer’s allowance benefit to pay for a paid carer.
If you work, you are not eligible to claim it.

The problem is that the threshold to get the government to give direct benefits to a disabled adult or their family/guardian to then pay for a paid carer is very very high such that there is a high dependence on family members being forced to become unpaid carers. There is such a shortage of funds and carers, that many many families and disabled people are left struggling with no supprt.
edited because I have confused two dusability threads

You really don’t understand carer’s allowance, do you? It is meant towards family income.

Again, how many hours of care do you think £81.90 will fund? Hint not many. For DS1 it wouldn’t even fund 2 hours when you consider he is deemed to need 2:1. 6 hrs for DS3’s PA. And that’s only the carer’s wages not other associated costs.

Sorry but this is nonsense. As long as you care for the disabled person for 35 hours or more per week you can still work and earn up to £151 per week after deductions, and still claim carers allowance. Direct payments or any other form of care funded by local authorities are totally separate. You’re not just confusing two different threads, you’re confusing two entirely separate benefits paid for entirely different reasons.

Right, but universal credit take carers allowance pound for pound. Despite it being a taxable benefit. Then the earnings at 55p in the pound.

So £333 per month carers plus £654 earnings makes £987, but only £254 cash income after deductions.

No. I’m not the one confusing the two different benefits, and frankly, £151 per week can be exceeded by working two weekend shifts on minimum wage at the local Co-op. It is so little money/work, that you can’t really be considered to be a working employee imho because it’s not enough take home pay to pay even minimum subsistence costs.

As a poor woman recently found out because DWP prosecuted her for benefits fraud because some weeks her weekend work at the Co-op exceeded the threshold by 30p. She was caring for her elderly mum the rest of the time.

Exactly. You need to be a care giver for a minimum of 35 hours a week for the qualifying disabled person. Put simply if you divide that by the allowance itself - just under £82 per week - it comes out at around £2.34 an hour. For context the financial assessment for care in our local authority area is based on £30 an hour.

We’re clearly talking at cross purposes here - carers allowance is a completely separate benefit to local authority care costs. I’ll leave it there so as not to derail the thread.

UC deducts CA pound for pound but pays a carers element if you are eligible for CA, regardless of whether you are claiming it or not. I think carers element is around £46 per week. This is not automatic - you have to apply for it.

I know that but the initial post referred to these direct payments as a carer’s allowance. I simply clarified that the initial poster was likely talking about the direct payments because the initial post was about professional paid carers and “carer’s allowance” is for unpaid carers.

Many recipients of the direct payments colloquially call it a “carer’s allowance” because that is a benefit paid to them that they then have to use to pay their professional carers. That is what caused the confusion at the outset in another poster.

Direct payments themselves are only one way that care costs are covered. Some care costs are paid to a care home, and not to the disabled person or family.

If you have not heard of direct payments for carers here is a link to a recent case.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/i-deserve-to-escape-disabled-man-who-saved-50000-from-care-fund-to-go-on-holiday-to-florida-is-left-stunned-after-council-clawed-back-cash/ar-BB1incVV

You clearly are confusing local authority care costs with carers allowance. You stated in your post that carers allowance cannot be claimed if you work. This is not the case. £151 is the earnings threshold regardless of whether you think it’s a living wage or not. The benefits system pays carers allowance based on entirely different criteria than that of Local authorities who provide paid carers after care and financial assessments have been carried out. And fyi there is no restriction on what carers allowance can be used for.

I was a benefit adviser and support worker for the disabled for over twenty years. Of course l know what direct payments are. And they are not the same thing as carers allowance. You’re derailing the thread with this nonsense.

No im not, I clarified that I don’t think £151/week counts as work because it is so low as to be meaningless. I knew you could ‘work’ but it’s so negligible that it doesn’t count as being able to work imho. It isn’t even minimum wage! That’s not an opinion, that is fact. £151 a week won’t cover even a quarter the average costs to stay alive.

I never said there was a restriction on what carer’s allowance can be used on.

You are confusing me with another poster.

I NEVER SAID THEY WERE THE SAME THING, I SAID THE EXACT OPPOSITE, NOW KINDLY MOVE ON. YOU HAVE CONFUSED ME WITH ANOTHER POSTER.

You can’t use the unpaid carer’s allowance benefit to pay for a paid carer.
If you work, you are not eligible to claim it.

This is what you said. Both statements are wrong and l’m the second person you’ve accused of confusing you with another poster.

Anyway, let’s move on shall we. All this back pedalling is exhausting.

You have taken those out of context. They were to a poster who stated that you can claim carer’s allowance to pay for a full time carer so you can go out to work (presumably also full time) and not do any care yourself.

The first statement taken out of context was about how the carer’s allowance isn’t the same as direct payments for paid carers which is correct because that is what would pay for full time carers if a resident family member were going out to work and not doing any caring themselves.

The second statement also taken out of context was in regards to how no you can’t go out to work full time and claim carer’s allowance. I didn’t specify because it was the middle of a conversation and it was understood that £151 can’t possibly be used to go out to work while using carer’s allowance to pay for full time carers. Another poster pointed this out as well saying that carer’s allowance covers maybe 2hrs of care if you’re paying for it.

This is all a bit niche considering the OP is not a carer in any sense.

Bottom line: carer's allowance is an insult. The fact that it is treated simultaneously as taxable income for income tax purposes and unearned income for UC purposes is an insult. The fact that full time carers of adults don't get a work allowance is an insult. The fact that Social Services assign an allowance for daily living, then take 95% of the remaining income of the care recipient is also an insult.

Bottom line: nobody is going to the Bahamas based on their career as a family carer.