Carers Allowance and other benefits

Many carers, especially elderly carers, will not actually be paid Carers Allowance, even though they satisfy all the conditions. This is because they receive other, ‘overlapping’ benefits which are higher. If you are entitled to two ‘overlapping’ benefits you can only be paid the higher one.

The benefits which ‘overlap’ with Carers Allowance include:

But people who receive one of these benefits will often benefit from claiming Carers Allowance, even though it isn’t paid to them. This is because people who would have qualified for Carers Allowance, but for the overlapping benefits rule, will be classed as carers. If you are classed as a carer you may be entitled to other financial help, like the carer premium in Income Support or the extra amount for carers in Pension Credit.
In a few cases though, if the carer receives Carers Allowance, this can reduce the benefits paid to the disabled person. This can happen when the disabled person receives Income Support or Pension Credit and they have no other adults living with them.
For individual advice about the effects of claiming Carers Allowance, contact Wirral Welfare Rights Unit 0151 666 4570.

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