Remember that in order to get Carer’s Allowance you have told the Department for Work and Pensions that

• You are caring for someone at least 35 hours a week
• You are not earning more than £116 per week

However, that is all about you. Your partner doesn’t need to be doing any caring, and it doesn’t matter how much they earn.

Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that you are likely to be able to get any other benefits. However there are some limited circumstances where you might.

Let’s look at them, one by one.

Income Support

• You have the right to claim Income Support as a carer
• However, you will still not be entitled to Income Support if your partner is working 24 hours or more per week
• The big problem is that the amount you get will be reduced if you or your partner have other income (although some income is ignored, including the things further down this page) or if you have too much savings or other capital
• Unfortunately, any weekly earnings by your partner over £5 are counted as income.
• Crucially, the Carer’s Allowance itself is counted as income as well
• Because of this, the way this works out in practice, if you are both over 18 and neither of your are disabled, is:
• If your partner earns £92.35 or more a week, you get no Income Support
• If they earn between £5 and  £92.34 per week, your Income Support, your partner’s wages, and Carer’s Allowance added together add up to £154.45
•  If they earn less than £5 per week, you receive £149.45 a week from your Income Support and Carer’s Allowance combined, plus your partner’s wages.
• In other words, there’s not much point in your partner earning more than £5 per week because the rest of it is knocked off your Income Support
• The principle is the same if you are under 25, but the amounts you get are smaller: again, there is no financial advantage to your partner in earning more than £5 per week
• You can claim Income Support by phoning the Jobcentre Plus on 0800 055 6688.

Working Tax Credit

• Your partner may be entitled to Working Tax Credit if they were not entitled before, if they work more than 16 hours a week, and you and they have at least one child. This is because if you get Carer’s Allowance (and you are responsible for children) your partner only needs to work at least 16 hours a week to count as working full time
• Working Tax Credit is means-tested, and both your partner’s wages and your Carer’s Allowance are taken into account as income
• Working out the full details of how much you are likely to get is too complex to deal with properly here, but, to give you some idea of what to expect, if your partner earned £9,000 per year gross your partner might expect to get about £30 Working Tax Credit per week. They might also get some help with childcare costs
• For more information about Working Tax Credit click here

Housing Benefit

• If you rent your home, getting Income Support should entitle you to full Housing Benefit as well. Bear in mind, though, being entitled to full Housing Benefit is not the same as getting all your rent paid
• Even if you are not entitled to Income Support you may still be entitled to some Housing Benefit, depending on how big your wages are, and how much Working Tax Credit you get, if any, so you should make a claim
• If you want more information about Housing Benefit, click here

If you were getting Housing Benefit before for some other reason (for example, getting Jobseeker's Allowance, or working and being on low income) you should tell the local authority (council) that your circumstances have changed, otherwise you will be getting Housing Benefit for the wrong reason, and may end up being asked to pay back an overpayment

Council Tax Support

• If you rent your home, getting Income Support should entitle you to full Council Tax Support as well. Bear in mind, though, being entitled to full Council Tax Support is not the same as getting all your council tax paid. Depending on your local authority (council) you might find that you are entitled to more Council Tax Support than you were before.
• Even if you are not entitled to Income Support you may still be entitled to some Council Tax Support, depending on how big your wages are, so you should make a claim
• If you want more information about Council Tax Support, click here

If you were getting Council Tax Support before for some other reason (for example, getting Jobseeker's Allowance, or working and being on low income) you should tell the local authority (council) that your circumstances have changed, otherwise you will be getting Council Tax Support for the wrong reason, and may end up being asked to pay back an overpayment

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