What PIP means for carers
Updated 6 December 2018
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How does PIP affect Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit?
As with Disability Living Allowance (DLA), getting the ‘daily living’ component of PIP will allow a carer to access other help and services. Both the standard and enhanced rate of the daily living component of PIP will be a qualifying benefit for Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Credit, just as the middle and highest rate of the ‘care’ component of DLA was before it.
Read more information about the qualifying conditions for Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Credit.
Who can claim Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit?
If you are providing at least 35 hours of care to someone who claims or is going to claim the daily living component of PIP, then you may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance subject to meeting the other qualifying conditions. You should not claim Carer’s Allowance until the person you care for is awarded the daily living component of PIP at either rate. You must claim Carer’s Allowance within 3 months of the PIP decision being made or you could lose benefit.
Carers who don’t qualify for Carer’s Allowance may qualify for Carer’s Credit. If you are providing at least 20 hours of care to someone who claims, or who is going to claim the daily living component of PIP, then you could get Carer’s Credit. This is a National Insurance credit that helps build entitlement to the basic State Pension and Additional State Pension. It helps ensure there are no gaps in your National Insurance record.
Read more information about Carer’s Credit.
How will existing Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit claimants be affected by PIP?
PIP started to replace DLA for disabled people aged 16 to 64 from 8 April 2013.
Carers will not be affected by these changes if they are entitled to Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit because they care for someone aged below 16, or if the person for whom they provide care was aged 65 or over on 8 April 2013.
Carers will not be affected if they care for somebody who is in receipt of Attendance Allowance.
Carers will continue to receive their benefit provided they meet the qualifying conditions of Carer’s Allowance and the person they care for continues to receive the daily living component of PIP.
There is no automatic entitlement to PIP, even if the person you care for has an indefinite or lifetime award of DLA. If the person you care for does not claim, or does not qualify for the daily living component of PIP, then DLA will stop and your Carer’s Allowance will also be affected.
The Department for Work and Pensions will write to existing DLA claimants at some point from October 2015 to let them know when their DLA is due to end, and explain how they can make a claim to PIP.
If you are receiving Carer’s Allowance you do not need to take any action now unless your circumstances change.
Common questions that are currently being asked
Which rates of PIP will be qualifying rates for Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit?
Both the standard and enhanced rates of the daily living component of PIP are a qualifying benefit for Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Credit.
How will the person I care for know when and how to claim PIP?
Every DLA claimant will have already received a letter during February or March 2013 to tell them more about PIP and when they might be affected. The majority of existing DLA claimants will not be affected until 2015 or later.
If the person I care for is awarded PIP will my Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Credit be backdated to when they get it?
Your Carer’s Allowance can be backdated to the date PIP is awarded to the person you are caring for, providing it is claimed within three months of the PIP decision and all other entitlement conditions are met.
Carer’s Credit claimants have until the end of the tax year following the tax year in which the caring took place to submit their application. Consideration can also be given to applications made outside of these timescales but only as far back as 6 April 2010, when Carer’s Credit was first introduced.
How to claim Carer’s Allowance or find out more information
Read more about Carer’s Allowance.
Write to:
Carer’s Allowance Unit
Palatine House
Lancaster Road
PR1 1HB
Email: cau.customer-services@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Read more about PIP.