1. Carers who get an earnings replacement benefit like state retirement pension or contributory JSA or ESA are not paid Carer’s Allowance (unless the other benefit is less than Carer’s Allowance, which is very rare) Instead they are awarded an underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance which can mean that they receive more means tested benefit (like Housing Benefit!) due to inclusion of a carer premium in the calculation Underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance

2. CIS shows underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance in a way that could result in carers are being asked to repay benefit to which they are entitled Here’s an example…

3. This would seem to show that this resident is receiving Carer’s Allowance from 23 rd September 2013 to 16 th January 2014 at the same time as they were receiving a state pension (a situation where we know it would be underlying entitlement only as it is not usually possible to receive both retirement pension – or other earnings replacement benefit – and Carer’s Allowance).

4. This is a problem with the way the information is displayed on CIS. The DWP sent a bulletin covering this issue in 2012. Available here: http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs /HB_CTB_G4_2012.pdf http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs /HB_CTB_G4_2012.pdf

5. This is a problem with the way the information is displayed on CIS. The DWP sent a bulletin around about this issue in 2012. Available here: http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs /HB_CTB_G4_2012.pdf http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs /HB_CTB_G4_2012.pdf So lets look at our previous example on CIS…

6. So the full amount of Carer’s Allowance has been included for the period 23/09/13 (date of claim) to 16/01/14 (date DWP input decision) even though the resident will not actually have received any of this money during the period. We can see that for 23/09/14- 16/01/14 there was a higher rate of state pension overlapping with Carer’s Allowance. If entered as income for Housing Benefit this will lead to the carer getting much less help with their rent, and/or council tax, than they are entitled to.

7. Benefits that overlap with Carer’s Allowance – leading to underlying entitlement – Contribution based Jobseeker’s Allowance – Incapacity Benefit – Contributory Employment and Support Allowance – Maternity Allowance – Retirement Pension – Bereavement Allowance or Widow’s Pension – Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Widowed Mother’s Allowance When these benefits are higher than the amount of Carer’s Allowance there will be no Carer’s Allowance paid