I have a pensioner couple who are both getting the relevant rate of either DLA care and Attendance Allowance and qualify for both SDP x 2 and CP x 2 for the their applicable amount re Pension Credit. Mr gets underlying entitlement to Carers Allowance for his wife and I decided to apply for Carers Allowance for the wife whose only qualifying income is State Pension of approx £67 pw. I assumed that she would not be entitled to any Carers Allowance, however she has been awarded CA of approx £18 pw. This has resulted in only 1 x SDP being awarded and 2 x Carers Premium. So in effect, she has lost out on the SDP of approx £50 and only gained the £18 pw Carers Allowance. Could she withdraw her claim for Carers Allowance and apply for the SDP?

If she withdrew her claim for Carers Allowance to get the higher rate SDP it would be likely that the Carers Allowance would be taken into account as notional income and they would be worse off.

An additional amount for the severely disabled may not be applicable if someone is receiving CA in respect of caring for the claimant or partner. But CA has to actually be in payment before it affects entitlement to this additional amount.

SPC Regs, Sch I, para 1(1)

Claimants are treated as receiving income that they have deprived themselves of for the purpose of gaining entitlement to or increasing the amount of SPC payable...

SPC Regs, reg 18(6)

If CA is going to be claimed for anybody over 60 it is worth checking the State Retirement Pension breakdown as if the customers Basic Pension is below the rate of Carers Allowance then CA will become payable up to the CA amount.

Deprivation would not be an issue if, say, care was no longer provided for 35 hours per week by the person getting CA.

CA obviously includes an adult dependant addition. This is quite possibly wrong, depending on husband's SRP and other income. In which case, correct it, stop payment of CA and get SDP back.

If it is correct you can withdraw the adult dependant claim separately from the main CA claim with the same result.

You can also withdraw the whole CA claim if necessary. If you do so on the grounds that you are no longer entitled (not caring 35 hours a week for instance) notional incomke rules could not apply.

Richard Atkinson