About Carer's Allowance

[wendy]

Carer's Allowance is the main state benefit for carers, so it's important to find out if you can receive it. It is currently £59.75 a week.

To qualify, you need to meet all the rules for claiming Carer's Allowance. Check each rule carefully, as they're quite complicated:

    You must be 16 years old or over.
    You must look after someone for at least 35 hours a week.
    The person you look after must receive a qualifying disability benefit.
    If you work, you must not have net earnings above £100 a week. For more information on this, see the section on caring and earnings below.
    You must not get certain other benefits. See overlapping benefit rules below for details.
    You must be living in the UK when you claim Carer's Allowance and satisfy certain residence and immigration rules.
    You must not be a full-time student.

Your eligibility for Carer's Allowance won't be affected by any savings that you have or your National Insurance contributions record.

Getting Carer's Allowance can help you protect your eligibility for State Pension by helping you build up your National Insurance contribution record.

Read Carer's Allowance claims for information on how to make your claim. Carer's Allowance is a taxable benefit, except for any increases for children.

The official online source of government information on benefits is GOV.UK.

Click on the bars below for more detailed information on Carer's Allowance rules, or read more about challenging a Carer's Allowance decision. If you feel you have enough information, you can download the Carer's Allowance claim form here (PDF, 320kb).
http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyand ... wance.aspx