Carer's Allowance

Carer's Allowance is a weekly payment for looking after a disabled person. You do not need to be related to them or live with them, and it is taxable if your total income is above your Personal Allowance.

You and the person you care for must both meet conditions

They must already receive a qualifying benefit, such as the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment, the middle or highest care rate of Disability Living Allowance, or Attendance Allowance. You must also be at least 16, spend at least 35 hours a week caring, and not be in full-time education or studying for 21 hours a week or more. Residence matters too: you must normally live in England or Wales (or abroad with the armed forces) and have been in England, Scotland or Wales for two of the last three years, though refugees and people with humanitarian protection are exempt from that. You must not be subject to immigration control, and people from the EU, EEA or Switzerland usually need settled or pre-settled status as well.

Earnings are counted after tax, National Insurance and expenses

Your earnings from a job or self-employment must come to £204 a week or less once tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses have been taken off. Half of any pension contributions can be deducted, along with equipment you need for the job, travel between workplaces that your employer does not pay for, and business costs if you are self-employed. If you pay someone to care for the disabled person or your children while you work, care costs of up to half your earnings can be deducted too, unless the carer is your spouse, partner, parent, child or sibling.

Some money is ignored altogether: money from an occupational or private pension, a loan or advance from your employer, and a contribution to your living costs from someone who lives with you and is not a tenant or boarder. If you take in a boarder, the first £20 a week of what they pay and half of the remainder are ignored.

Only one carer is paid for each person

If you share the care of someone and the other carer already claims Carer's Allowance, Carer Support Payment or the Universal Credit carer element for them, you cannot get Carer's Allowance for that person. You can ask the other carer to change their claim. If they decline, you can still apply and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decides who is paid. Looking after more than one person does not raise the amount.

Claiming changes other benefits, for you and for the person you care for

The person you care for will usually lose the severe disability premium paid with their benefits, and the extra amount for severe disability paid with Pension Credit. They may also lose a Council Tax reduction.

Universal Credit is cut by exactly the amount of your Carer's Allowance. Its carer element of £209.34 a month is a separate extra: it is not added when you start getting Carer's Allowance, you have to tell DWP you have become a carer, a couple who care for the same person share one, and you cannot have it if you already get the extra amount for limited capability for work and work-related activity.

Carer's Allowance and State Pension cannot both be paid in full. A pension of £86.45 a week or more means no Carer's Allowance payment, and a smaller pension is topped up by the difference. If you get Pension Credit, it can include a carer addition of £48.15 a week if you get Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment, or have claimed Carer's Allowance but are not paid because another benefit, such as a higher State Pension, pays more.

Moving between Scotland and England or Wales changes which benefit you claim

Carer Support Payment is the Scottish equivalent, and it is what people living in Scotland claim. A move from England or Wales to Scotland ends Carer's Allowance 13 weeks later, so DWP has to be told and Carer Support Payment claimed separately. The same applies to anyone still waiting for a Carer's Allowance decision or challenging one. A move the other way means reporting it to Social Security Scotland and claiming Carer's Allowance.