The short answer
- £86.45 a week, paid to youNot to the person you care for. It is taxable income, but it is not means-tested on your own savings, and most carers on a modest income owe nothing extra on it.
- Three gates, and the third is not up to youYou need to be 16 or over, caring 35 hours a week or more, and the person you care for needs to already be getting a qualifying disability benefit.
- Earnings over £204 a week stop it completelyThere is no taper. A pound over the limit after tax, National Insurance and expenses, and the whole payment for that week is lost, not just the difference.
- It protects your pension even when it is not paidAn award you qualify for but cannot be paid, because your State Pension or another benefit overlaps with it, still counts as an "underlying entitlement" and can unlock extra Pension Credit.
Figures are 2026/27, from gov.uk, checked 4 September 2026. In Scotland the equivalent is Carer Support Payment, covered later on this page. We are not benefits advisers: Carers UK's helpline (0808 808 7777) and Citizens Advice give free advice on your own figures.
What it is
A weekly payment to you, for the care you already give
Carer's Allowance is a benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions, paid to the family member or friend doing the caring rather than to the person who needs it. It exists because looking after someone for most of a working week is real work, even when nobody else is paying for it.
£86.45
a week
2026/27, paid to you rather than to the person you care for
35 hrs
of caring a week
for one person, or added together across more than one
16+
the minimum age
no upper age limit; you can claim past State Pension age
Taxable
like a wage
counted as income for tax, unlike Attendance Allowance or PIP
gov.uk/carers-allowance, checked 4 September 2026.
It sits alongside Attendance Allowance, which pays the person who needs help rather than the person giving it. Many families end up claiming both: one for a parent's day-to-day needs, the other for the adult child or partner who has cut back work to help. Carer's Allowance is not means-tested against your own savings, though your earnings can stop it, which the next two sections cover.
If the person you care for lives in Scotland, the claim you make is not Carer's Allowance at all but Carer Support Payment, at the same rate and against the same tests. The Scotland section further down sets out the two differences that do exist. For a wider view of how this fits alongside council funding and paying for care yourself, the different types of care funding lays out the whole picture in one place.
Who qualifies
The three gates, and the benefit that has to be in payment first
Age, hours and the other person's own benefit decide it, and all three have to be true at once. There is no test of your relationship to them, whether you live together, or how well you feel you are managing; the DWP does not ask about any of that.
- 1
You are 16 or over
There is no upper age limit. You can claim while getting your State Pension, though the overlapping benefits rule below may mean it is not paid on top.
- 2
You care for 35 hours a week or more
For one person or shared across more than one, added together. It does not have to be the same person you live with or are related to, and it counts washing and dressing, cooking, managing money, appointments and simply being there.
- 3
The person you care for gets a qualifying benefit
One of the disability or attendance benefits listed on this page. It has to be in payment, not just applied for, so a claim for that benefit sometimes has to go in first.
All three, and Carer’s Allowance is paid
£86.45a week, whatever your own savings, though it counts as taxable income
A fourth gate applies once you are already claiming: your own earnings have to stay at £204 a week or under, after tax, National Insurance and expenses. The next section covers it.
Two further rules sit around the gates rather than inside them. You cannot be in full-time education of 21 hours a week or more, whatever the caring looks like outside term time, and you need to have been present in Great Britain for 2 of the last 3 years, with easier rules for refugees and people with settled or pre-settled status. Neither trips up most family carers, but they matter if you are also studying or have moved to the UK recently.
The third gate is the one families miss, because it depends on somebody else's claim rather than yours. If your mother has dementia and needs prompting to eat and reminding to take her tablets, but has not yet claimed Attendance Allowance, her needing that help is not enough on its own: the benefit has to be in payment before you can be paid Carer's Allowance for looking after her. Attendance Allowance: who qualifies and how to claim covers her side of it, including the reminding and prompting that dementia care usually involves, and getting her claim moving is the fastest way to unlock yours. Where the person you care for is under State Pension age, the qualifying claim is the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment instead, and the transition at 18 explains why a son or daughter's move from DLA to PIP at 16 affects yours.
If the caring itself, rather than the money, is what is wearing you down, a carer's assessment from the council is a separate, free look at what you need to keep going, and it does not depend on anyone's savings. What is a carer's assessment? explains what it covers, and the free help a family carer can ask for sets out the rest.
The earnings limit
Why a pound over the line costs you the whole amount
Once you are claiming, a fourth rule follows you every week: what you earn from work. Carer's Allowance does not taper away gradually the way Universal Credit does. It is paid in full up to the limit and stops completely for any week you go a pound over it.
£204
a week is the most you can earn after tax, National Insurance and expenses and still be paid £86.45. A single pound over it in a week, and the whole payment for that week is lost, not just the amount over the line.
2026/27 figures from gov.uk. There is no taper.
The DWP lets you deduct half of what you pay into a workplace or personal pension, equipment you need for your job, the cost of travelling between two places of work, and half of what you pay towards the care of a child or of the person you look after while you are at work. If you are self-employed, your average earnings are normally worked out from a full year's accounts, or over a shorter period if the business is new or has changed a great deal, and the DWP can average irregular earnings over five weeks or another period that fits your pattern better.
If the person paying you is the person you care for, rather than an employer, can my mum pay me to care for her? goes through this same earnings limit alongside the tax and council rules that come with being paid by a parent, including what a fair hourly rate looks like against what carers on PrimeCarers charge, £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included.
How to claim
Three ways to claim, and the three months you can backdate
The quickest route is online, though a phone call or a paper form both reach the same benefit. Whichever you use, the person you care for's qualifying benefit needs to already be in payment; if their claim is still being decided, it is usually worth waiting for that decision, or at least being ready to send proof of it the moment it arrives.
The three ways to claim Carer's Allowance
| Claim online | Phone the Carer's Allowance Unit | Print and post | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | carersallowance.service.gov.uk | The Carer's Allowance Unit, 0800 731 0297 | Form DS700 (under State Pension age) or DS700SP (over), printed from gov.uk or requested by post |
| What you need | National Insurance number, bank details, employment or self-employment details, and the details of the person you care for | The same information, taken over the phone or a form posted out to you | The same information, written on the form |
| Speed | Fastest: submit any time, and you get an acknowledgement straight away | Good if you would rather talk it through, or need the form in a different format | Slowest, but the only route for some accessibility needs |
| Backdating | Up to 3 months, if you were eligible for that period | Up to 3 months | Up to 3 months; say the date you want it to start |
Where
- Claim online
- carersallowance.service.gov.uk
- Phone the Carer's Allowance Unit
- The Carer's Allowance Unit, 0800 731 0297
- Print and post
- Form DS700 (under State Pension age) or DS700SP (over), printed from gov.uk or requested by post
What you need
- Claim online
- National Insurance number, bank details, employment or self-employment details, and the details of the person you care for
- Phone the Carer's Allowance Unit
- The same information, taken over the phone or a form posted out to you
- Print and post
- The same information, written on the form
Speed
- Claim online
- Fastest: submit any time, and you get an acknowledgement straight away
- Phone the Carer's Allowance Unit
- Good if you would rather talk it through, or need the form in a different format
- Print and post
- Slowest, but the only route for some accessibility needs
Backdating
- Claim online
- Up to 3 months, if you were eligible for that period
- Phone the Carer's Allowance Unit
- Up to 3 months
- Print and post
- Up to 3 months; say the date you want it to start
The online service is at carersallowance.service.gov.uk. The phone line is 0800 731 0297, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, with Relay UK and British Sign Language video relay available. Posted forms go to the Freepost address printed on the form itself.
A claim can be backdated by up to 3 months from the day you make it, as long as you met all three gates for that earlier period, so a late claim does not cost you the way it would with some other benefits. It is still worth claiming as soon as the qualifying benefit is awarded rather than waiting for a quieter week: decisions take a few weeks either way, and there is nothing to lose by starting early.
Only one person can be paid Carer's Allowance for looking after the same person at the same time. Where care for a parent is shared day to day between two or more adult children, decide between you who claims, usually whoever's own earnings sit furthest under the limit, and use can my mum pay me to care for her? to work out what the others might be paid instead for the hours they cover.
Once you are awarded it
What the award changes: your pension, your tax and everyone else's benefits
Being awarded Carer's Allowance does more than put money in your account every four weeks. It protects your State Pension, and it can raise what the person you care for gets too, though none of that happens by itself.
National Insurance credits, every week you are awarded it
Income tax, once you earn enough overall
Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction can rise
The person you care for keeps their own benefits
North of the border
Scotland has replaced it with Carer Support Payment, and pays a little more on top
If you or the person you care for lives in Scotland, the claim is not Carer's Allowance at all. Carer Support Payment has now replaced it everywhere in Scotland, built on the same three gates as this page, with two payments Carer's Allowance does not have.
Carer's Allowance, against Carer Support Payment in Scotland
| England, Wales and Northern Ireland | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is called | Carer's Allowance | Carer Support Payment |
| Weekly rate | £86.45 | £86.45 |
| Extra payment | None | Scottish Carer Supplement, £11.70 a week, paid automatically alongside it |
| Caring for more than one person | No extra payment for a second person | Carer Additional Person Payment, £10.40 a week for each extra disabled person cared for |
| New claims | Claim Carer's Allowance as on this page | Claim Carer Support Payment from Social Security Scotland; a new claim for Carer's Allowance is no longer possible |
What it is called
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Carer's Allowance
- Scotland
- Carer Support Payment
Weekly rate
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- £86.45
- Scotland
- £86.45
Extra payment
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- None
- Scotland
- Scottish Carer Supplement, £11.70 a week, paid automatically alongside it
Caring for more than one person
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- No extra payment for a second person
- Scotland
- Carer Additional Person Payment, £10.40 a week for each extra disabled person cared for
New claims
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Claim Carer's Allowance as on this page
- Scotland
- Claim Carer Support Payment from Social Security Scotland; a new claim for Carer's Allowance is no longer possible
Figures are 2026/27, from Social Security Scotland and gov.scot, checked 4 September 2026. The age, hours and qualifying-benefit gates on this page are the same in both systems.
It is no longer possible to make a new claim for Carer's Allowance if you live in Scotland; claim Carer Support Payment from Social Security Scotland instead, using the same qualifying benefits and the same 35-hour test set out earlier on this page. Everyone who was already getting Carer's Allowance in Scotland has been moved onto Carer Support Payment automatically, at the same rate, so nobody needed to make a fresh claim to keep their money.
Keeping it right
Telling the DWP when something changes, and what to do if it goes wrong
Most problems with Carer's Allowance come from a change nobody reported, rather than a decision that was wrong from the start. Reporting a change takes a few minutes; unwinding an overpayment the DWP finds later takes months, and it will want the money back regardless of whose mistake it was.
- 1
Report a change straight away
As it happensEarnings, hours, a change in the other person's benefit, or starting full-time study. Reporting late is the most common reason a carer ends up having to repay Carer's Allowance they were not entitled to. - 2
Ask for the decision in writing, with reasons
If you are refusedA refusal is often about one of the three gates rather than the caring itself: the qualifying benefit was not yet in payment, or the hours added up to less than 35. Check which gate it was. - 3
Ask for a mandatory reconsideration
Within 1 monthWithin one month of the date on the decision letter, ask the Carer's Allowance Unit to look again, by phone or in writing, and say what you think is wrong. - 4
Appeal to the tribunal
Within 1 month of the reconsiderationFree and independent of the DWP, online or on form SSCS1. Citizens Advice and Carers UK's helpline both help with reconsiderations and appeals. - 5
If you do not qualify, look at Carer's Credit instead
20 hours a weekCarer's Credit protects your National Insurance record and your State Pension if you care for 20 hours a week or more, with no earnings limit and no cap on your own savings. It pays no money itself, but it is worth claiming even alongside a small amount of paid work.
If caring is leaving you exhausted rather than just short of money, what are the signs of caregiver burnout? is worth ten minutes, and respite care covers how a week or two's break is arranged, sometimes funded by the council alongside anything Carer's Allowance already covers.
Questions
Questions families ask about Carer's Allowance
£86.45 a week, about £4,500 a year, paid to you rather than to the person you care for. It is taxable income, though most carers with no other significant earnings pay nothing extra on it, and it is not means-tested against your own savings.
Anyone 16 or over who spends 35 hours a week or more caring for someone who already gets a qualifying disability benefit, such as Attendance Allowance, the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment, or the middle or highest care rate of Disability Living Allowance. You do not need to live with the person or be related to them, and the hours can be shared across more than one person you care for. Attendance Allowance covers the benefit that most often unlocks it for a parent.
Yes, as long as your earnings stay at £204 a week or under, after tax, National Insurance and half of any pension contributions. There is no taper: a pound over the limit in a single week and the whole payment for that week stops, so many carers deliberately keep their hours or pay just under the line.
You lose the whole £86.45 for that week, not just the pound you went over by. Tell the Carer's Allowance Unit as soon as it happens rather than waiting to be asked; reporting promptly is far less trouble than an overpayment the DWP finds later and asks you to repay.
It can, in both directions. Universal Credit is reduced pound for pound by any Carer's Allowance paid, though the separate carer element is unaffected, and both exempt you from the benefit cap. Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction can go up through a Carer Premium or Carer Addition of £48.15 a week. The one benefit that can go down is the person you care for's own severe disability premium, if they were claiming it for living alone. Attendance Allowance explains that trade-off from their side.
Online at carersallowance.service.gov.uk, by phone on 0800 731 0297, or by post on form DS700 if you are under State Pension age or DS700SP if you are over it. A claim can be backdated up to 3 months, so claim as soon as the person you care for's own qualifying benefit is in payment rather than waiting.
Claim Carer Support Payment from Social Security Scotland instead; it has fully replaced Carer's Allowance there and a new Carer's Allowance claim is no longer possible. The rate and the eligibility gates are the same, and Scotland adds a weekly Scottish Carer Supplement and extra money for caring for more than one disabled person, both covered further up this page.
No. Only one person can be paid Carer's Allowance for looking after the same person at the same time, even where the caring is shared day to day. Decide between you who claims, usually whichever of you has earnings furthest under the limit, and can my mum pay me to care for her? covers how the others could be paid directly instead.
Ask for the decision in writing and check which of the three gates it turned on; refusals are usually about the qualifying benefit not yet being in payment or the hours not quite reaching 35, rather than the caring itself. Ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the decision letter, and if that does not change it, appeal to the tribunal within a month of the reconsideration notice. Both are free. If you still do not qualify, Carer's Credit protects your State Pension for 20 hours of caring a week or more, with no earnings limit at all.