Carer's Allowance

You may be able to get Carer’s Allowance if:

• you are aged 16 or over 
• you are caring for someone for at least 35 hours a week.

The person you care for must be getting certain benefits (qualifying benefits) – usually one of the following:

• the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at either rate
• the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at the middle or higher rate
• Attendance Allowance.

We have more information about benefits for people with care or mobility needs.

It is important to know the following:

• You do not need to be related to, or living with, the person you care for to claim Carer’s Allowance.
• You can be working, but there is a weekly earnings limit – after certain deductions.
• If you get State Pension, you cannot claim Carer’s Allowance at the same time. You will get the one that pays the highest amount. This means you cannot get Carer’s Allowance if your State Pension pays you more.
• You cannot claim Carer’s Allowance if you are studying for 21 hours a week or more.
• If you receive Carer’s Allowance, or the carer element in UC, the person you care for will stop getting a severe disability premium included in their benefits. This is an extra amount for severe disability paid with Pension Credit or reduced council tax. This is also paid with certain benefits.
• You can choose to be paid weekly, in advance, or every 4 weeks.
• You can usually backdate your claim by up to 3 months. But this can be longer if the person you care for has a delayed decision about their qualifying benefit. For example, this could be due to a long processing time or an appeal.
• If there is more than 1 carer looking after the person you care for, the main carer should apply. Only 1 person can get Carer’s Allowance.
• If you are a carer but you do not qualify for Carer’s Allowance, you may still be able to apply for Carer’s Credit.

If you have questions about being a carer, or about Carer’s Allowance, you can:

• speak to a welfare rights advisor or information and support specialist on the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00.
• talk to other carers and share experiences in the carers forum on our Online Community.

If you live in England, Scotland, or Wales, you can apply online at GOV.UK or by post. For information on how to make a claim, you can call the Carer’s Allowance Unit on 0800 731 0297 or use textphone 0800 731 0317.

If you live in Northern Ireland, you can apply online at nidirect.gov.uk. You can also call the Disability and Carers Service on 0800 587 0912, or use textphone 0800 012 1574 and ask them to send you a claim form. Or you can collect a claim form from your local Social Security or Jobs and Benefits office.