If your circumstances change

You need to tell Social Security Scotland about any changes that might affect your Carer Support Payment, including: 

• changing your name
• changing your address 
• changes to your employment or earnings
• if you stop being a carer
• if you temporarily stop providing care
• if you or the person you care for have a terminal illness
• changes to benefits the person you care for gets 
• if you're aged 16 to 19 and start studying at secondary school or college
• changes to your immigration status if you are not a British citizen

You can only tell us about changes that have already happened. Not changes that will happen in the future. 

If you’re transferring from Carer’s Allowance and do not get Carer Support Payment yet, report your change to the Department for Work and Pensions or call 0800 731 0297. 

Changes to your employment or earnings

To get Carer Support Payment, your take home pay cannot be more than £151 a week.

You need to tell Social Security Scotland about any of these changes:

• starting or finishing employment
• starting or finishing self-employment
• changes to how much you earn
• changes to any additional earnings you get like tips, bonuses or fostering fees
• changes to relevant expenses you pay, like caring costs or money you pay into your pension
• changes to the details of your business, if you’re self-employed 

Read more about Carer Support Payment if you work.

If you temporarily stop providing care

To get Carer Support Payment you must provide care for 35 hours or more every week.

There might be times when you need to temporarily stop providing care for 35 hours a week. For example if:

• you’re in hospital or a hospice
• you or the person you care for go on holiday without each other
• the person you care for is in a hospital or hospice and you are not providing care for 35 hours or more a week
• the person you care for is in residential care, such as respite care or a care home
• you or the person you care for are in prison, a detention centre or a young offenders’ institution

You may still be able to get Carer Support Payment when you stop providing care:

• for up to 12 weeks if you or the person you care for are in a hospital or similar institution
• for up to 4 weeks if you stop providing care for any other reason

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

We look at this over a 26 week (6 month) period. So, in any 26 week period, you can stop providing care for up to 12 weeks in total. This can be for a combination of hospital-related reasons and other reasons. 

For you to get paid during a temporary stop in care, the person you care for needs to have received their disability benefit throughout the temporary stop in care. You also need to have provided care for 35 hours or more a week for either: 

• 22 weeks or more, in the last 26 weeks (6 months) 
• 14 weeks or more, and you or the person you care for have been in hospital 

If you or the person you care for have a terminal illness

A terminal illness is an illness or condition which cannot be cured and is likely to lead to someone's death. It's sometimes called a life-limiting illness.

You can get paid Carer Support Payment every week in advance if you or the person you care for have a terminal illness and already get another benefit through the special rules for people who have a terminal illness. 

Special rules for benefits if someone has a terminal illness

There are Special Rules for Terminal Illness for:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Child Disability Payment
• Pension Age Disability Payment

Find out more about Special Rules for Terminal Illness.

For these 5 benefits, the rules are called Special Rules for End of Life:

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Attendance Allowance
• Universal Credit
• Employment and Support Allowance

Find out about Special Rules for End of Life – at GOV.UK.

If you or the person you care for get any of those 8 benefits under the special rules, you can ask to be paid Carer Support Payment weekly in advance. You’ll still get the same amount overall.

To ask to be paid weekly in advance, you can either:

• fill in the online change of circumstances form
• contact Social Security Scotland 

How to tell Social Security Scotland about a change

You should report a change as soon as you can.

Report a change online

You can tell Social Security Scotland about any changes to your circumstances online.

You do not need to create an account.

Report a change

Report a change on the phone

Call Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222 to report a change on the phone. It will be quicker if you have your National Insurance number.

Their opening times are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

If you need to contact Social Security Scotland from outside the UK, call +44 (0)138 2931 000. This call is not free but you can ask Social Security Scotland to call you back. Check with your phone provider for details of charges.  

If you’re a British Sign Language user, you can video call Social Security Scotland using the Contact Scotland BSL app.

You can call Social Security Scotland and ask for an interpreter in over 100 languages. They can connect you to an interpreter straight away, or you can book a call in advance.

Report a change by post 

 If you want to fill in a paper form you can:

• call Social Security Scotland to get one posted to you
• download and print the form

The address to send your form to is shown at the end of the form.  

You can get a large print paper form by contacting Social Security Scotland.

If you want to change to being paid weekly in advance rather than every 4 weeks, you need to use our online change of circumstances form. 

What happens if you tell Social Security Scotland about a change

You can ask Social Security Scotland to text you when your form has been received.

You’ll also get a letter telling you if your entitlement to Carer Support Payment will change.

Supporting information

Social Security Scotland might ask you to send them supporting information to confirm what you tell them when you report a change.

They’ll contact you to tell you about any supporting information you need to send.

If you disagree with a decision

The letter you get from Social Security Scotland will tell you what to do if you disagree with their decision. 

You can ask them to look at their decision again. This is called requesting a redetermination or appeal.

If you want to do this, you can ask for help from:

• Social Security Scotland
• a friend or family member
• your local carer centre
• welfare rights advisers at your local council
• a support organisation, like Citizens Advice Scotland

If you want to stop getting Carer Support Payment

Contact Social Security Scotland and ask them to end your Carer Support Payment.