Guide to financial support for carers :Cross Stitch – Caring for someone
There is a range of benefits, tax credits and other financial support that you may be able to receive as a carer. This is a general overview.
You may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance if you’re aged 16 or over and care for someone at least 35 hours a week. See the link ‘Carer’s Allowance’ to see if you qualify.
If you don’t qualify for Carers Allowance you may qualify for Carers Credit. See the link ‘Caring and your pension’ to find out more about Carers Credit.
If you have been assessed by your local council as needing support services to help you in your caring role, you can choose direct payments. They allow you to buy in and arrange help yourself instead of receiving it directly from social services.
From 6 April 2010, a new Carer’s Credit has been introduced. It is a National Insurance credit which will lets carers build up qualifying years for the basic State Pension and additional State Pension. This means that there will be no gaps in your National Insurance record if you have to take on caring responsibilities.
You may be able to get Carer’s Credit if :
- you provide care for one or more disabled person(s) for a total of 20 hours or more each week
- you are not already getting Carer’s Allowance
See the link ‘Caring and your pension’ to find out if you can get Carer’s Credit and how to apply.
You may still be able to build up entitlement to additional State Pension if you’re not working or if you’re caring for someone. As a carer you may also qualify for extra Pension Credit.
If you are a lone parent, you may be able to claim Child Maintenance from your child’s other parent through the Child Support Agency. You may get an extra amount if you have extra costs because your child is disabled.
If you are responsible for a child under 19, or in certain circumstances under 20, you will get this premium if either:
- the dependant is getting Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- the dependant is registered blind
The Enhanced Disability Premium (child rate)
If the dependant gets the highest-rate care component of DLA, you may get the enhanced disabled child premium.
You do not get either premium if the dependent child has capital of more than £3,000.
The Motability Scheme helps disabled people buy or lease a car at an affordable price. If you care for a disabled person who doesn’t drive, they can still apply to buy or lease a car through the Motability Scheme.
You can also apply for a car on behalf of a child aged three or over. The child needs to be entitled to the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance.
The Blue Badge parking scheme provides a range of parking benefits for disabled people. If you’re caring for a disabled person who doesn’t drive, they can nominate you as their driver. This means you can use their Blue Badge when driving them.
If you’re caring for an adult who has a Disabled Persons Railcard, you can receive the same discount as them when travelling with them.
If you have a disabled child who has a Disabled Persons Railcard, they will travel at standard child fare. But you’ll receive a discount of one third off the standard adult fare when you travel with them.
Many places of interest offer discounted or free admission to a companion accompanying a disabled person. This includes museums, sports venues, National Trust properties and English Heritage sites.
Find out about the financial support available to disabled people, including Disability Living Allowance and direct payments, in the ‘disabled people’ section of Directgov.