How Carer Support Payment can affect other benefits
Carer Support Payment may affect some of:
- your other benefits
- the benefits the person you care for gets
If you have a partner and live with them, Carer Support Payment may affect some of their benefits as well. But their benefits or income do not affect your eligibility for Carer Support Payment. Or how much Carer Support Payment you can get.
Carer Support Payment affects other benefits in the same way as Carer’s Allowance.
Benefits the person you care for gets
If the person you care for gets a severe disability premium for the following benefits, the premium will stop:
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
Learn more about disability premiums at GOV.UK.
What you need to do
Before you apply for Carer Support Payment, discuss your application with the person you care for, if possible. Explain how your application may affect their benefits. For example, their severe disability premium will stop automatically.
You also need to tell them that they need to tell their local council about your Carer Support Payment award if they get:
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Reduction
Your benefits
Social Security Scotland will let some other benefit providers know if you start getting Carer Support Payment.
You’ll need to let your local council know if you get:
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Reduction
If you or your partner get Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, you need to tell HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC):
-
to find other ways to contact HMRC go to Tax credits: general enquires at GOV.UK
If you get Universal Credit
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will reduce your Unversal Credit by the same amount as you get from Carer Support Payment. This is because DWP counts Carer Support Payment as income when they work out how much Universal Credit to pay.
You should get more money overall because DWP may pay you a Universal Credit carer element. This is an extra amount on top of Universal Credit. Also, because you’re a carer you should not have to meet any of the work requirements for Universal Credit.
Social Security Scotland will share information about your Carer Support Payment with DWP. You should still tell DWP about your Carer Support Payment.
If you ask Social Security Scotland to backdate your Carer Support Payment, you may be paid Carer Support Payment starting from a date that’s in the past. This may mean DWP will have overpaid you for Universal Credit during that backdated period. You may need to pay DWP back for those overpayments.
Learn more about backdating in how to apply for Carer Support Payment.
You can tell DWP about your Carer Support Payment award by:
- calling 0800 328 5644
- logging on to your Universal Credit account at GOV.UK
If you or your partner get other income-related benefits
Carer Support Payment is also counted as income for these 4 benefits:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit
If you live with a partner, you and your partner might get less money from DWP for those benefits if you’re awarded Carer Support Payment.
DWP cannot adjust your other benefits or your partner’s benefits straight away. This means DWP might overpay you or your partner and then ask for some money back.
Choose how to get your first Carer Support Payment
If you're awarded Carer Support Payment, you have 2 options for getting your first payment. You'll still get the same amount of money overall.
You can choose to get a reduced amount of money the first time you're paid Carer Support Payment. This means you and your partner will not need to pay any money back to DWP later.
Or you can choose to get the full amount the first time you’re paid Carer Support Payment. But DWP will ask you or your partner to pay them some money back.
The application form for Carer Support Payment asks if you’d like Social Security Scotland to reduce your first payment of Carer Support Payment so you and your partner do not have to pay money back to DWP.
If you live with a partner, discuss this with them before you apply for Carer Support Payment.
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