Changes to your hours of care

You must provide care for:

• 35 hours or more every week to get Carer Support Payment
• 20 hours or more every week for each additional person to get Carer Additional Person Payment

If you care for more than one person, your hours of care can happen at the same time.

You need to tell Social Security Scotland about any time your caring hours reduce or stop.

If you permanently stop providing care you need to call Social Security Scotland.

Temporary stops in care

There might be times when you need to temporarily stop providing care for the eligible number of hours a week. For example if:

• you’re in hospital or a hospice
• you or a person you care for go on holiday without each other
• a person you care for is in a hospital or hospice and you're not providing care for the eligible number of hours a week
• a person you care for is in residential care, such as respite care or a care home
• you, or a person you care for, are in prison, a detention centre or a young offenders’ institution

When you can be paid during a temporary stop in care

You can temporarily stop providing care for a total of 12 weeks in any 26 week (6 month) period, and still get paid:

• for up to 4 weeks for any reason
• for up to 12 weeks for hospital stays or a combination of hospital stays and any other reason

If you stop providing care for longer than this, your award may stop until you start providing care again.

Find out how to tell Social Security Scotland about a temporary stop in care. 

For your payments to continue during a temporary stop in care, the person you care for needs to have received their qualifying benefit throughout the temporary stop in care.