Hello
I’m after a bit of help and advice please.
My mum is need of assistance with home care and has asked my daughter, who is currently on maternity leave to help. (Which isn’t a problem) however my daughter is currently getting maternity allowance and universal credit. Now we have been told that because of the maternity allowance she will not be able to claim the Carers, but is eligible for “underlying Carers allowance?”
Now, our main question is if my daughter can only claim the underlying Carers allowance, would this cause my mum to lose her severe disability allowance?
Thank you for any help.
Tanya,
Welcome to the forum.
We have an excellent advice service, but they are very busy, so in the mean time, here is what I remember about SDA. I manage the benefits for my son with learning difficulties. He receives SDA, which he would lose if I claimed CA.
As I’m a pensioner, I can’t have both CA and my state pension, due to the “overlapping rule”. Both count as “income substitute benefits” and you can only receive one of these.
If I remember rightly, SDA is only for those living alone not claiming CA, so yes, mum would lose that if your daughter claimed.
However your daughter might not be any better off either because of the same “overlapping rule” that affects me too!
She might get an increased “carer premium” because of the current crisis, but my son isn’t on UC at the moment so I have no personal knowledge of how that works.
However, there might be other options to consider, which would make mum better off, depending on the answers to the following questions.
Does mum own or rent her home?
Do you or your daughter live with her?
Does mum have over £23,000 in savings (Yes/No)
What is the matter with mum?
Does she have any signs of dementia?
Is mum claiming either Attendance Allowance/ PIP/ or Disability Living Allowance?
Has mum ever had a Needs Assessment from Social Services?
If so, when?
I would recommend that you ask our Advice Line team for a benefits check to establish what is available and how it would impact on any benefits currently received by your Mum and your Daughter.
You can contact the team team on 0808 808 7777 or email advice@carersuk.org