Claiming PIP and Carers Allowance?

Hi Waxwing,

Thank you for your post.
There is a lot of information about claiming PIP within the members guides - see here:
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip#claims
You could go through the descriptor activities and see if your disabilities give rise to difficulties under the various sections, and whether you might achieve enough points. If so, then of course you could claim PIP for yourself. Equally the person at home who you care for could do the same, to assess his/her chance of receiving PIP benefit. You are correct - if the person you care for achieves at least standard rate Daily Living PIP then you could be entitled to receive Carer's Allowance.
To be entitled to receive Carer's Allowance, you have to show you do 35 hours per week of caring, for one person, and this isn't part of a paid job. If you do any part time work, your earnings must not exceed £128 per week. If you already claim UC, then Carer's Allowance may affect the amount you receive under UC. You can not receive both CA and ESA.

There is nothing in law that prevents someone who receives PIP claiming CA, however this sometimes does cause difficulties. From recollection, thre are no specific questions on the PIP form about work or caring, but it is entirely likely that you may be asked to attend an assessment for PIP. (At present these are done via phone.) You certainly can't withold information to the assessor, or say something that is incorrect, and often one of the first questions is about your household and whether you work etc. It is very likely that you will need to explain your caring role to the assessor. AND, even if you weren't asked, of course DWP will know that you are a carer as soon as you start to claim CA!

Being a carer and claiming PIP can come across as being contradictory. If you have explained on your form that you can not do various activities and DWP are aware that you are a carer and/or claim CA, which obviously indicates a full time caring role, DWP will no doubt wonder how it is that you can look after another, but not be able to look after yourself and hence require PIP. If PIP has already been paid for a while, before the DWP at PIP finally realise you are claiming both benefits, they might consider you shouldn't have been paid at all, which could result in severe consequences including repaying an overpayment.
That is not to say it is totally impossible to claim CA/PIP in these circumstances, but I think great care has to be taken. Perhaps if you wish to do this, you should seek specialist advice from a welfare benefits advisor, eg at CAB.
I apologise if this comes across as somewhat negative - I just want to urge caution here!

LL26