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Carers Allowance

Elin
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Welfare Team, Grwp Cynefin, North Wales

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Total Posts: 10

Joined: 11 June 2020

Hi

I have been contacted by one of our tenant who is claiming carers allowance as she looks after her father and she gets a top up of income support.
However she has been in an accident and has been told that she will be out of action for at least 3 months - therefore worried that she will not be able to care for her father.

I have looked in cpag but I cannot seem to find anything re her getting a break in her entitlement.

My thinking is that she will have to inform CA that she is no longer caring and her IS will stop and she will have to go on to UC (she has 3 children) so this will be very difficult for her to transfer over.

Any suggestions greatly accepted?

CHAC Adviser
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Caseworker - CHAC, Middlesbrough

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Joined: 14 September 2017

What kind of care does the father need and what kind of care can she now provide? Remember that caring doesn’t necessarily mean physically assisting someone. It can include “hands off” things like supervision, prompting and support. So I wonder if there’s therefore still a way of showing that she’s providing 35 hours per week of care just perhaps differently to what she was doing before?

Edit: Also, just looking at the regulations would not Regulation 4(2) apply?

(2) A week in respect of which a person fails to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1) of this regulation shall be treated as a week in respect of which that person satisfies those requirements if he establishes—

(a)that he has only temporarily ceased to satisfy them; and
(b)that (disregarding the provisions of this sub-paragraph) he has satisfied them for at least 14 weeks in the period of 26 weeks ending with that week and would have satisfied them for at least 22 weeks in that period but for the fact that either he or the severely disabled person for whom he has been caring was undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1976/409/regulation/4

CPAG page 563

It would seem by definition that this is temporary break in caring rather than a permanent?

Edit to the edit: Actually no reading that again I don’t think it would would it unless your client had been in hospital as an in-patient? It’s not very well written though!

[ Edited: 2 Jul 2020 at 11:27 am by CHAC Adviser ]
Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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Eta: Changed my mind, noticed she’s been advised of at least 3 month break in caring role.

[ Edited: 2 Jul 2020 at 12:18 pm by Paul_Treloar_AgeUK ]
bigbill
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Dumfries Welfare Rights

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Total Posts: 127

Joined: 24 June 2010

Her IS should run on for 8 weeks if that helps?

If not read this and see if any of this might help her: COVID-19 related changes

You will still be entitled to receive Carer’s Allowance if you have a temporary break from caring because you, or those you care for, get coronavirus or you have to self-isolate because of it. This applies for a period of eight months from 13.3.20.

In addition, the government has confirmed that providing ‘emotional support’ will count towards the 35 hours needed to claim the benefit. This also applies to carers who live in a different household from someone they care for, where contact is only possible through the form of emotional support provided via the telephone and social media.

These measures (introduced on 30 March) apply whether or not you’re making a new claim or already claiming Carer’s Allowance.