Arrears of Carer’s Allowance

Hi

My client has just received an arrears payment for Carer’s Allowance from 04.11.13 (due to the PIP delays).

I automatically assumed the arrears payment would be disregarded for HB purposes but can’t find confirmation in the CPAG book.

Can anyone confirm if the arrears payment should be disregarded?

My client works part time and has no other income.

Cheers

Allan

I’ve checked para 9 of sch 6 of HB regs (and para’s 6, 8 & 9 of sch.5) and there is no mention of carer’s allowance as being one of the benefits for which arrears payments are ignored when assessing entitlement to HB.

That’s what I feared. 

Many thanks

It will count as income with effect from November 2013, but will be partially offset by the Carer Premium.  If his income before the award exceeded the applicable amount this will probably cause an HB overpayment of £17.65 a week (£17.19 a week before April 2014) - 65% of the difference between the CA and the premium.  The lump sum arrears will count as capital going forward from when they are paid, but as the total amount will be less than £6,000 this is only an issue if he already has other capital.  It would also be entirely reasonable for him to repay the HB overpayment all at once without the Council saying he has deprived himself of capital.

If he had income below the applicable amount before the CA was paid, the overpayment will be smaller or even nil.

Same comments apply to Scottish CTR scheme, but the damage is only 20% of the difference between the premium and CA.

He’s better off overall, but it will seem disappointing to have an immediate HB overpayment bill that gobbles up some of the lump sum he though he was getting - just needs to prepare himself for that disappointment.

Would that be under reg 79(6) HB Regs HB Anorak?

How long have you got?

The most straightforward answer is that it is under Regs 7(2)(i) and 8(14) of the HB&CTB; Decisions and Appeals Regulations, which don’t engage HB Reg 79 at all.  These Regs provide for an award of or increase ion a state benefoit to have effect as a superseding decision from the date of the claimant’s entitlement to that benefit rather than the date on which it is finally paid.  It’s supposed to prevent any technical obstacle to backdating of premiums etc when someone is awarded DLA, but it appears to capture all DWP benefits for better or worse.

If the award of a state benefit were a change of circs falling within Reg 79 to begin with, Reg 79(7) would be the paragraph that applies here (para (6) applies to income other than benefits).  The arrears payment would fall to be attributed as income over the period it covers.

The conflicts and overlaps between Reg 79 and the D&A Regs are long overdue for some clarification and simplification.  But whichever way you approach it, there is no way for the arrears of income to be quietly ignored in a case like this.

Thanks very much for that.