MARTIN Lewis’ MSE has urged 500,000 households to make a simple check to see if they can get £4,000 free cash.
The MoneySavingExpert.com team explained how “unsung heroes” could be missing out on carer’s allowance.
Carer’s allowance is a UK benefit designed to help people who have caring responsibilities for more than 35 hours each week.
This can involve doing daily duties like laundry, handling finances, or accompanying them to medical appointments.
Writing in this week’s MSE newsletter the team said: “Are you one of 500,000+ providing 20hrs+ a week of care for low/no pay?
“Unpaid carers are the nation’s unsung heroes, looking after their loved ones, saving the NHS money, and often leading hard lives themselves because of it.
READ MORE ON MARTIN LEWIS
“As it’s Carers Week, here’s a reminder of the rather paltry, but still worthwhile, help available.”
Carer’s allowance is worth a total of £4,258 a year, paid into an account of your choice at either the weekly rate of £81.90 or the four-weekly rate of £327.
However, you can’t earn more than £151 a week, or you lose all of your benefit allowance.
MSE also pointed out that you could also benefit from carer’s credit too.
Carer’s credit is a National Insurance (NI) credit for people who provide care for at least 20 hours a week and aren’t yet at state pension age.
It’s designed to protect your NI record from gaps, as many carers might need to give up paid work to provide care for someone.
You need 35 NI qualifying years to get the full new state pension which is worth £221.20 a week currently.
Getting the credit could mean you could boost your state pension by thousands of pounds according to MSE.
Below we explain more about the help and who can get it
What is carer’s allowance?
CARER’S allowance is a UK benefit designed to help people who have caring responsibilities for more than 35 hours each week.
week.
Those eligible get £81.90 a week paid directly into bank accounts.
To qualify, the person you care for must already get one of these benefits:
- Personal independence payment (PIP) – daily living component
- Disability living allowance – the middle or highest care rate
- Attendance allowance
- Constant attendance allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Constant attendance allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a war disablement pension
- Armed forces independence payment
You don’t have to be related to the person or live with them to apply.
But if you share caring responsibilities with someone else, only one of you can make a claim.
The type of care you provide can vary, but includes things such as helping with washing or cooking, taking the person to medical appointments or helping out with household tasks such as shopping or organising bills.
To get the benefit, you must also meet a certain set of criteria:
- You must be 16 or over
- You have to spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone
- You need to have been in England, Scotland or Wales for at least two of the last three years (this does not apply if you’re a refugee or have humanitarian protection status)
- You must normally live in England, Scotland or Wales or live abroad as a member of the armed forces (you might still be eligible if you’re moving to or already living in an EEA country or Switzerland)
- You cannot be in full-time education
- You must not be studying for 21 hours a week or more
- You cannot be subject to immigration control
- You will also have to meet certain earnings criteria in order to get the benefit.
Your earnings must also be £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and expenses.
You can apply for the carer’s allowance online by visiting www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/how-to-claim.
What is carer’s credit?
If you care for someone who is on certain benefits for at least 20 hours a week and you are of working age you could be entitled to carers credit.
You have to be aged 16 or over and under state pension age, and the person you’re caring for must be on certain benefits – see Gov.uk for the full list.
Credits aren’t paid in cash but instead, they’re a national insurance (NI) credit that helps with gaps in your national insurance record.
This is important because how much you eventually get – if anything – from the state pension is based on your national insurance record.
You don’t need to apply if you get carer’s allowance or child benefit for a child under 12 as you’ll automatically get credits, and if you are a foster carer you should apply for national insurance credits instead.
How do I apply?
Before applying check your state pension forecast as the carer’s credit won’t boost you’re entitlement beyond the maximum level.
Calculate the hours you provide care for and check your eligibility.
You need at least 10 years of NI credits to get any pension at all, and 35 years to get the maximum amount.
If you have gaps to fill and are eligible for carer’s credit you can apply by downloading and sending back the carer’s credit claim form on gov.uk.
You can get help by calling the carer’s allowance unit on 0800 731 0297.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
What about carer’s allowance?
The carer’s credit is different to the carer’s allowance, which is for those who care for someone on certain benefits for at least 35 hours a week.
If you do, you can get paid £81.90 a week, which is worth over £4,000 a year.
To qualify, the person you care for must already get one of these benefits:
- Personal independence payment (PIP) – daily living component
- Disability living allowance – the middle or highest care rate
- Attendance allowance
- Constant attendance allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Constant attendance allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a war disablement pension
- Armed Forces independence payment
For each week you get carer’s allowance, you’ll also automatically get NI credits.
It’s estimated that around 440,000 people are missing out on carer’s allowance.
You can apply for the carer’s allowance either online on the gov.uk website or by post.
To claim by post, you need to download a form online. The address to send it to is at the end of the form.
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