Advice for Those that are Disabled or for Carers
Struggling to pay your bills is not one way you should be working as a carer, some information for those who give at least thirty five hours in care services to the elderly or a disabled person should know compensation may be available to assist you. There is a weekly payment available for those people who are sixteen years old or older, who spend the majority of their weeks, at least up to thirty five hours of the week spent in giving care to a disabled person. This person does not have to be related to you, you do not have to live with them, but you do have to give services to them to qualify. Make an important note, the carer allowance is taxable and if you receive other benefits, this could reduce those benefits. The carer allowance is about fifty nine pounds a week, you can opt to have the monies distributed to you weekly in advance, or be paid at four or thirteen weeks. It’s your decision. The money will be deposited straight to your bank account.
Depending on the type of care you give, you may be eligible for a pension credit and may be also able to claim other benefits. When talking about the drop in benefits, earlier last year a new type of credit was issued, called the Universal Credit, if you get this credit already, then claiming Carer benefits may reduce the Universal Credit you already receive. Because the Universal Credit is based on the means-tested credits, the amount you get from the carer allowance will reduce the benefits by the same amount on the Universal Credit, which affects: Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Pension credit and Universal Credit. Another program called a Carer Premium is collected in the benefits before the deductions occur.
Even after all the deductions in benefits there may still be an available tax credit from the Council Tax Reduction. Technically speaking, you are not allowed to get more than one income replacement benefit, because of the overlapping benefit rule. If you are unable to receive the Carer’s Allowance because you are getting the State Pension, you may be qualifying for the underlying entitlement to the Carer’s Allowance. This status will enable you to get the carer premiums for Jobseeker’s Allowance as well as Income Support or Extra Amounts for Carer’s in Pension Credit; still you may opt to get the Carer Element for the Universal Credit.
Carer’s give as much of their time for the people they take care of, whether you are a relative, a friend or even a neighbour, proper compensation for your time and energies should be accessible to all carer’s through several organisations. There is help if you are willing to take a lower credit in another area of the benefits package for those who qualify. Disability is no simple task, without the tax credits people giving care may feel overwhelmed. Check with your local council to see where you fall in the benefits zone of the care you give before applying for more. More importantly, keep up the hard work, caring for or being a disabled person is not easy. You may want to also look into further help in the form of a support group in the South or South West. Also find out more here www.gov.uk/financial-help-disabled/overview.