Carers Allowance for partners/spouse

[mirandasma]

The Government does not allow partners/spouses to claim Carers Allowance or claim a discount for Council Tax. My partner and I live on two state pensions and he has a small teacher's pension on top. He now has quite severe Parkinson's Disease but probably wouldn't qualify for Severe Mental Impairment. This means we have to pay full council tax and I cannot claim any Carer's Allowance as his partner. He does receive Attendance Allowance however (lower rate). We rent privately at quite a high rent and receive no other benefits. It seems so unfair that I can't claim Carer's Allowance or a Council Tax discount. Is this an anomaly in the law? Does anyone out there know why the law has been designed so that spouse/partners are the only carers who are not eligible for any discounts/ financial support? You can even claim a CT discount for a friend as well as close family members such as parents/children etc.

You can't be paid Carers allowance as it is an overlapping benefit with state pension. you can however still make an application for carers allowance and you will be sent a letter saying you can't be paid carers allowance but you have what is called an underlying entitlement to carers allowance. Once you receive this letter you can then get a carers premium on means tested benefits like council tax support and Pension credit. Overall any entitlement to these benefits will depend on your state pension and private pension and savings amounts but the carers premium can be included in the calculation.

And it is not just spouses that can't claim carers , it is any person receiving a state pension which is more per week then carers allowance.
have you had a full benefit calculation to check whether you would qualify for any Pension credit or housing benefit towards your rent ? i would strongly urge you to contact an organization like Age uk.

Dorset your partner nit get pip or esa from dwp? My grandad has severe parkinsons and gets the high rate on both plus his pensions etc

Can you claim Pension Credit?

Op has said her gets Attendance Allowance which is the disability benefit for people over state pension age who are not already on PIP.

Hi All

Thanks for all your helpful replies. Will investigate further.😀

Attendance allowance is the default disability and carers payment for pensioners. My mil isn't able to claim carers for FIL and he gets high rate attendance as he cannot be left alone at all.

Check your dh's assessment takes into account his current needs and that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to.

In-laws pension credit had previously been stopped, but when attendance allowance kicked in they were eligible again. This means they are also now eligible for other help and support. It has made a massive difference to their quality of life.

Reasonably, it can be expected that many pensioners themselves require some kind of care or support so giving a person carers allowance when they are no longer of working age, does make sense. Even if the government actually expects us to work until we drop dead.

You can claim carers allowance for spouses.

You can't claim carers allowance and state pension.

I don't know anything about council tax discount or why you feel you should get a discount.

You can claim Carers Allowance for a partner.

You cannot receive the payment for Carers Allowance if you’re in receipt of State Retirement Pension. You can however receive the underlying entitlement for Carers Allowance which gives a higher applicable amount for benefits such as Housing Benefit etc.

You can claim for support towards your Council Tax (known as Council tax Support/reduction) however your award is based on your income.

I would suggest contacting Age UK for a benefits check.

You can't claim carers allowance as he gets attendance allowance also I thought carers allowance stopped once you get state pension. It is not unfair.

I don’t know for certain but I presume the rationale for excluding carers who are caring for their spouse/partner and/or their child under 18 from being disregarded is because there is an expectation some level of care will be provided. It would also mean far more household are eligible for 25% or 50% discount.

It's not true though. You can get carers allowance for a spouse. OP can't get it bc they get state pension.

Also we don't get discount for getting carers allowance on the CT

It is true, I was talking about council tax not carer’s allowance. Some carers are disregarded for council tax purposes which in turn means some are eligible for 25% or 50% discount if that means there are only 1 or 2 other adults eligible to pay council tax in the household.

Link to confirm what I have posted.

I completely misunderstood you.

Just to correct my pp I meant only 1 or no other adults…, not 1 or 2 other adults.

First part of your sentence is completely false. If op was under state pension age she could absolutely claim carers allowance ( assuming she meets the other criteria) because she cares for her husband and he is eligible for Attendance Allowance.