Carer's allowance, if you receive and your DP/DH works full time can you please answer me this Q?

[SammyK]

Can anyone please tell me if I will be eligible to receive carer's allowance based on their own family situation?

I do not work (have just resigned) and DP works full time on a basic wage. DS has aspergers and receives DLA, high rate for care (is 4 so no mobility claim element). We will just get by now I am not working so if I can receive CA it will be a big help.

I know this should be in legal/financial but it's so quiet on there - one thread!

Yes, you can get it. It is based on your individual income, not joint.

I got it when ex dh worked full time-it for everyone who cares full time and is not working f/t (obv!) You can earn around £95 wk whilst on it as well without the rate going down. If you get tax credits make sure you get the disability rate as well-they have 2 rates/elements-disabled and severely disabled. Also income support has a carers premium. Its def worth claiming Carers allowance.

I was under the impression that you had to be working to get carers allowance??????
Might be wrong

It is the carer (ie you in this situation) that would claim CA; it's not like Tax Credits where it's done jointly.

If you earn under the threshold then you can claim. So if you do not work at all because you care for someone receiving DLA then you will get the full whack (about £200-odd a month).

im not working well and get carees allowance .But what it does means that i dont get as much income support as cares is classed as a wage ,means iam about 20 pound week better of than if was on income support

If you claim carer's allowance you also get home responsibilities protection, which protects your entitlement to a state pension while you are unable to pay National Insurance contributions.

Okay that sounds good. Thanks everyone who replied. Obviously I don't get income support as DP earns a FT wage. Will get hold of a form for carer's allowance then.

We receive child benefit, ctc, wtc, disabled element of tax credit, and DLA.

Pixel didn't know that either thank you for that info.

I can't really add anything else to what the other posters have said...but...when you do receive CA please don't forget to tell the CTC people as CA is a taxable social security benefit and counts towards your income for CTC.

yes, you can claim Carers Allowance, and if you are not working, you will get the full amount. It does not matter what wage your partner earns.
No, absolutely, you do not have to be working to claim Carers Allowance. You can work so many hrs/week, up to a maximmum wage amount, as someone has already said. Definitely claim it, as it will boost your income and make life a bit more bearable.

SammyK you can apply online

beldaran didn't know that either! will my TC amount go down then due to carer's allowance? Don't even know what tax credits we will get now I am not working, need to give them a call.

I have just done the CA form online and submitted it, but they need my final payslip which I don't get until the end of the month {impatient}.

ask them to backdate it too from when you stopped working as they should do that, the little extra is better than nothing!

Just wanted to add to this, I was on the border line of earning £95 per week, and am now earning slightly over £95 per week but still receive CA as they allow you to ofset child care costs from your weekly wages, if that makes sense! I was not aware of this untill I spoke to them on the phone and if I had known probably would have applied sooner.

You can only ofset your childcare costs if you child is in Nursery o with a childminder tto enable you to work.

I've just got carers allowance, backdated from when I stopped receiving maternity pay. My DH works full time, and I don't have a job.

Dont forget to tell TC that you 'earn' £2704 a year carers allowance because it does count towards your household income. My DH earns 17k and with my carers it just takes us over the 20k threshold for TC which is a bit of a pain!

Yes you can, also tell the tax credit people and you will get more tax credit. Although it will also come of your tax credit. (you loose what you gain) Also tell the council you might get a council tax rebate.