Help re UC and Carers Allowance please

[stunner1901]

Evening

I am asking for a friend who is a real worrier

He is currently furloughed on a part time job and is a carer for his mum who receives DLA

It is very likely that he will be made redundant at end of Sept and will have to claim UC

How does he stand re work?

Can UC force him to look for work or does the fact that he is a carer mean that he doesn't have to work should he choose not to?

He was working part time before he had to start caring for his mom

Thanks in advance for any advoce

[Wylderose]

The fact that your friend is his mother's carer does not mean that he is incapable or unfit for work, but if he provides 35hrs/wk or more care for his mother and if she received the Daily living component of PIP or the middle or high rate of DLA then he would be placed in the No work requirements group

Claiming Carer's allowance.
The fact that he claims carer's allowance £67.25/wk has a dual impact.
1. If his mother is on Housing Benefit it removes her Severe Disability Premium from her Legacy benefits (ESA) So because he receives carer's allowance she loses £66.95/wk out of her own benefits in compensation
2. She also loses the Severe Disability premium within her HBenefit calculation and if she is under official state pension age should her benefits end for any reason, she would then be required to claim Universal Credit. The impact of this is that if she claims ESA, then it would switch to New style ESA which is deducted £1 for £1 from Universal Credit

For your friend, claiming carer's allowance would impact on his Universal Credit because assuming he is a single person over 25 he could expect to receive as a base rate prior to the addition of his rent (if he rents a property)
1. £409.89 as his standard allowance plus the Carer Element of £162.92 less the amount that he receives in carer's allowance for his mother £-291.42. He would therefore only end up with a UC award of £281.39, plus the money he receives from carer's allowance £291.42
2. On the other hand if he was not claiming carer's allowance and he was providing care for his mother (35 hours/wk) he would receive as his base rate £572.81 (being his standard allowance and the carer element). He would be no worse off financially, but his mother would have more to live on.

His mother's receive the Severe disability premium again and be better off.

Just because you care for someone does not mean that you should claim carer's allowance and it is not a pre-requisite of claiming the carer element in UC.

Certain benefits are deducted £1 for £1 from UC.
- New Style ESA received alongside UC
- Carer's allowance
- State Pension
- Private Pensions

It would be worth him considering whether or not it is worthwhile him continuing to claim carer's allowance

[stunner1901]

Thanks for the reply

Question would be though if he cancelled his claim for carers allaowance would UC then consider him to be fit for work and consequently expect hi to look for work even though he still cares for his mom?

Financially the base rate - carers figure you mention would he still get his full rent and council tax relief on top of this figure?

Again thanks in advance

[Wylderose]

Cancelling his carer's allowance - No they wouldn't. Providing he is a carer for his mother for 35hours or more and she receives PIP Daily living at the Std or Enhanced rate then he would still be entitled to the carer premium and not be required to seek employment. Too many people think they have to claim carer's allowance for looking after someone. It is only a little bit of money for doing a lot of looking after on a 24/7 basis.

If he was over 25 but under 35 and he rents from a private landlord, then he could only expect to receive the single room rate for his Housing costs. This is the same as he would receive for the Local housing allowance under housing benefits and varies according to where he lives in the country.

If he rents from the council or a Housing association then he could expect to receive his full rent in a 1bed, a 14% reduction if he is living alone in a 2bed and a 25% reduction for a 3bed. This is the same as the SSSC/bedroom tax in housing benefit.

Council tax support - Universal credit works in the same way as the legacy benefits in that the award is usually 70% of the ctax liability, after single person's discount is applied. In my LA, we accept New claims for UC as a new claim for council tax support which removes the ambiguity of "well I claimed UC and they told me". it means that people now don't lose out on their benefits. We also apply a £150 COVID reduction to the bill of those people on benefits which for them is a big help.

Discretionary housing payments and Council tax hardship can also be claimed for short term assistance while transitioning from employment to unemployment.