Hello I would like advice on claiming back dated carer element on Universal credit. My husband had to give up work since 2020 and his health will not get better so we have had a joint account on universal credit and he has limited capability for work since 2022 which was when we first claimed UC.
In 2024 he started recieving PIP, and because I care for him over 35 hours I am receiving car allowance. Since the same time period. This care allowance is deducted from universal credit monthly.
HOWEVER it wasn’t until April 2026 where I had to declare a change of circumstances by a prompt in my journal that I gave this informationthat I was a carwr receiving carers allowance.
I didn’t realise this whole time I was eligible for the carer element which is a complete separate facet to carers allowance and only received once you add a change in circumstances?
I didn’t know about this before that you had to claim via change of circumstances and would then receivecarers element if UC.
So DWP know I’m.a carer becuse the careers allowance is being deducted from UC monthly. Therefore if I ask for the carers element to be backdated there us proof they would know I was a carer for this time period so as I was eligible technology would they backdate this because I wasn’t informed via help I got with my husbands GP care advisor to implement the change iof circumstances at the point I became a carer.? There is also no information on any timeline for backdated of the carers element of UC only fir careers allowance i believe..This is about backdatedcarers element..
I’m about to contact UC in my journal so appreciate any facts and help.as I also have a brain injury so sometimes I get confused..
Thanks in advance.
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@Dillon-1 hiya Dillon.welcome to the forum .i would ring this number tomorrow .its the adviceline for carersuk.org .they are open mon-Fri 9am -6pm.phone number 0808 808 7777 They will be able to give you all the answers to your questions and what you can do. Then you can report it in your journal after you have spoken to them. It says on the internet it says that if you did not inform DWP it can only be back dated 3 months to the date of the recent claim. It also says when you did the change of circumstances in your journal you should also have requested it be back dated.it says the maximum it can be back dated is 3 months and that’s from the date you report it,I would check with the advice line tomorrow and ask them.ok
Thank you for your answer. I will call them as it is obvious I was getting carers allowance as it is deducted from Universal credit so they know I’m.a carer. The backdate is I believe 3 months for carers allowance but the carers element is a different benefit and I could not find anything about a timeline of backdating carers element. Its all.so confusing I will call.thank you .. Always worked until recently I had a stroke and my husband got ill so it would be good to get help.that we can .. I appreciate the help and that you took time to.answer also thank you 
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Ask the Carers UK Helpline.
@Dillon-1 they can both only be backdated a maximum of 3 months the DWP states.while you ring them I would ask them to check your benefits what you get to just make sure you are getting everything your entitled to ,then they can go through everything and help you.yes it does get confusing I agree. U take care ok and come back anytime if you need any help with any questions and we will all try and help you.
@Dillon-1 i had another thought but you will probably know this already . But how your husbands and your health is .if you need any adaptions like rails etc at home.you could ring your doctors and ask the OT( occupational therapist) to call to see if they could suggest anything to help make life easier for you.
Our Carers UK helpline helped me claim Carers Allowance when the carers Allowance Unit said I wasn’t entitled to it! I was £50 a week better off as a result. CUK had access to various rulings relevant to my situation. It used to be the case that if DWP had given incorrect information then the “3 month max” rule dosn’t apply! In some circumstances they even paid interest! Always send emails or letters rather than speak to them, so that there is a “paper trail”.
@bowlingbun it isn’t the DWP that has give the wrong advice.it says that the DWP expect people to check themselves what they can claim and it says that care allowance and care element can only be back dated max of 3 months . I know cuk can have access to relevant rulings, the DWP haven’t done anything wrong the lady didn’t apply for it.and it says if someone didn’t apply for it the 3 month rule apply. That’s why I said ask the cuk.
In my case it was most definitely DWP giving the wrong advice. This is a matter of fact, not opinion. DWP use a system that doesn’t cover everything it should. A very good friend was a senior DWP Official.
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Yes in your case DWP was wrong they said you could not get carers allowance and you could do so they gave you the wrong advice. The lady did not put in for it the DWP didn’t give her any advice. She did not apply. So I don’t know what they will do or what the carersuk can do. It says when your circumstances change she had to tell them she was a carer and ask for it to be backdated and from then it would be back dated max 3 months.so they could argue it was her fault for not contacting them and only let her back dated max 3 months .we all know what DWP and councils are like.
If you look at the bottom of this page, there are related topics. One is a post dated 2025 saying others have managed to have their claim backdated.
Hello @Dillon-1 - It might be best to email the advice line to contact a specialist adviser for this rather than call the helpline. The address is advice@carersuk.org.
All the best,
Jane