Carers Allowance WTF

[MagicPharmacist]

Due to an absolutely perfect storm of shit happenings, my dad died, my mum has Parkinson’s and I lost my part time job, we’ve made a decision that rather than look for another job right now I will care for my mum. I’m very happy to do this and we are fortunate enough that I can be on minimal income for now, although obviously not ideal.

I do a little bit of self employed work, no where near the threshold. My mum gets attendance allowance so she told me to apply for carers allowance.

But the numbers make NO SENSE to me. It’s not anything I’ve ever had to look at before but how the fuck do they justify this?

£81 a week for 35hrs caring (and obviously it’s more than this for most people). And then on top of that you are only allowed to earn £150? Why? What’s the justification?

And then the new cap will be £196 earnings which is equivalent to 16hrs at minimum wage. Why? Why are they so invested in keeping carers poor?

I don’t really understand why this is a means tested benefit. Surely it’s in the government interests to have family carers? £81 a week for 35 hours minimum work and then you can ONLY make less than 800 a month on the side? How do they expect people to live?

I’m ENRAGED. Not necessarily for myself; we won’t starve as my husband has a good job. But if he earned less we would be fucked, my mum would either have to have carers in every day or go into a care home.

Oh god and the hoops to jump through as well; the form was a nightmare and they want so much info about me and my previous employment and current income. And it takes at least six weeks for a decision…could be months.

AIBU to be shocked by this?

I guess the argument might be that you can’t be a full time carer and work full time/significant amount of hours. There is also an expectation that families will care for their loved ones as part of their family duties, like they do more on other countries.,

I’m aware that many people probably run themselves into the ground doing just that, but I expect that’s why the limits will be there.

I agree that the allowance is rubbish and it would cost a lot more for paid carers or nursing home care.

Just wait till they turn your claim down as you can't guarantee what your weekly income will be lower than threshold (easier just to give up the job full stop). Oh and God help you if you're paid monthly rather than weekly.
And then when you appeal there is no timescale, you're just left floating in their system.
is a shit show

Well, to add to the fun. Those of us on variable earnings can wait months and months.
My contract is zero hours, so I have to submit pay checks and get paid retrospectively. For background info, I go over the earning limit once a year due to back pay of pay rises that take a while to be agreed with unions.
I submitted 2 months worth of pay checks at the end of November and I’m STILL WAITING for my CA. I’ve rung a few times, they have it, they are under the earnings limit, yet they haven’t processed the payments 4 months later.
So I don’t even have what I’m entitled to.

If carers allowance was a reasonable amount people wouldn't need to run ourselves ragged to survive

Agree, OP, it is an absolute disgrace. Sorry you are going through this. Worth contacting your local carers centre for support if you haven't already done so.

What do you think would be fairer OP? A lower threshold of earnings? A higher payment?

I get capping the hours - if you're working 40 hours a week you are going to struggle to provide 35 hours of care unless you're barely sleeping. But I don't think there should be an income cap. If you're working as a cleaner I na school or as ab investment banker, if yo can show you're providing 35 hours of care, then carers should be paid. I guess tho if it's not means tested, the level of proof needed would go up.

Yeah I’m worried now I won’t actually get it, I literally teach a couple of yoga classes a week but then occasionally run a retreat and make money, I’m never in profit as it’s a hobby job really and I’ve paid loads for trainings and professional fees and books and all sorts. My plan was to care for mum and build the business up, carers allowance was going to be a buffer but it looks like I won’t get anything for months anyway and it might all be so complicated to prove income and outgoings that I may as well not bother.

£300 a month isn’t nothing and it would help us but I can’t imagine the stress if this was the only income I had.

To answer @nahthatsnotforme i think it should be at least minimum wage for 35 hours OR that you could earn a full time minimum wage equivalent alongside. I can’t see the logic in saying carers can only earn a maximum of £1100 a month all in (from next month) when that’s less than they state people can live off.

If your husband worked more, you would get universal credit?. Carers isn't the only money carers get. They apply for universal credit which pays towards housing etc.

I think a lot of cares also claim UC and other benefits- I'm not 100% sure but from what I've read that seems to be the case

We can’t get universal credit. My husband earns well, but we have a stupid south east mortgage so we aren’t wealthy. I need to earn some money!

For those still waiting for their form to be assessed - bearing in mind you are all earning under the earnings threshold, and have to live like that without the carers allowance until they complete your claim - I have a bank contract with the NHS, so variable hours, I asked for a managers phonecall - they are then supposed to call you back within 3 working days. I did get a call, and she was very good. I explained I managed my own hours - confirmed by the payslips I sent in, but was struggling to manage on my wage without the carers allowance being in place.
I live alone, so theres no other wage coming in, but i do have a workplace pension which i have taken - pensions dont count towards the employment earnings threshold.
I was still caring for my mum, still using the petrol to take her to appointments but not getting the allowance. All the staff who answer the phone just tell you it's with the processing team - ask for a manager call back

Agree OP, CA is an absolute shambles of a system. Carers save the government billions, and are rewarded with £81.90 per week for it.

Yep.. I worked 2 days a week as a Ta ..term time only on supply so no holiday pay either... but then got a whole 143.00 back pay from a backdated payrise... so went over the limit even though paid monthly . Carer's stopped
I've given up claiming now even though I am going to be caring till I die I try to get a few extra hours in as an when I can at work .It just wasn't worth the stress.

When i thought about trying to get carers allowance for looking after my mum i was told the amount i would get would automatically come off her attendance allowance, is that still true?

Some people do a lot of caring. Others hardly any. But they get the same allowance. The whole system needs to be overhauled.

Carers allowance is taken off UC. You get £324ish in carers every 4 weeks (13 times a year) but UC takes £355 away every month x 12. The only point in claiming CA on UC is for the pension credits. Welcome to the rock and hard place life.

this is the reality which a lot of people don’t understand as they never come across it.
Why? Why not to increase taxes for those who earn more and increase carer allowance or at least cap hours of work, not earnings?
I try not to think about it tbh as it gives me absolute rage. As you can guess Im a carer, my child has disability.

Wow really 😞😵. I didn't know that

It seems incredible to me that caring for a loved one is so undervalued .Its a short term view and so many people are suffering .I also find it astonishing that so many child carers are not only not paid.but expected/accepted that they will be "caring" for an adult relative when its illegal to leave children alone!

The last figure I read was £184 billion a year.

I disagree with this.

35 hours of care plus 35 hours of full time work is 70 hours. Plenty of people in busy jobs are easily expected to work this and no one bats an eyelid saying it's impossible.

People who provide a lot of care should get Carers Allowance for their work whether they also work a full time job or not. They're still saving the government £££s, the meagre amount of carers allowance is just a bonus at most, for recognition.

Or, alternatively, make carers allowance a proper bloody amount for 35hours worth of work and make deductions for work income, like they do Universal Credit.

I looked in to this. In a similar spot that you are op. Not entitled to other benefits but can't work full time due to my child with additional needs and my mum who is going to need ongoing progressively more demanding care. I work a zero hours contract and self employed and honestly the forms for it just don't seem worth it. It's very little payment for what feels a very vunerable situation to be in. I really dislike the feeling of having to prove myself.No one is going down this route for the "luxury lifestyle" it just feels such a kick in the teeth all the hoops to jump for what is not very much money at all but it is better than nothing. They can never seem to get my pay right as it is working ad hoc bank staff. It just doesn't feel worth the stress.

I think there is also a carers supplement that you can get in addition to UC and carers allowance, something like £200 a month? The supplement doesn't get taken off your UC and you can still claim the supplement without claiming the carers allowance. For anyone thinking of claiming.

I agree. I am doing caring duties from 4pm till 8am every school day and then 48hours over the weekend, so 128 hours a week. Obviously I can sleep for some of that, but the person I am caring for cannot be left unattended for any period of time as they are unable to keep themselves safe and I can be woken up multiple times during the night.
They should make the allowance larger, whether that is capping the number of hours but not the pay, or capping the pay but at a higher rate.
When I eventually fall over due to lack of support, it will cost them a shitload more to look after the person I care for.
Tbh I would much rather be working full time, but that is not an option for us.