Many people who have reached pension age find themselves caring for a spouse, sibling or other loved one.
There are certain benefits available to support you financially as a carer. Benefits for carers of state pension age are a little different to if you were still of working age.
Some of the benefits you could claim as a carer overlap with State Pension. This is usually because the benefits are there to help with the shortfall from lost working hours; in the case of Carer’s Allowance, this shortfall is due to your duties as a carer. That said, caring for another person can accrue extra costs, regardless of whether you are working, so you can still get some financial assistance.
When means-tested benefits overlap, one may be reduced or paid as a top-up, rather than the full amount. Means-tested benefits (applicable to people of pension age) include:
- Carer’s Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Support
- Cold Weather Payment
Your State Pension is not something you automatically receive. You have to be eligible for it and claim it. So, it may be better for you financially to defer your State Pension if you would get more in benefits from being a carer without it.
Carer’s Allowance
Carer’s Allowance is money to help make up for lost income due to caring for someone.
How much is it?
The Carer’s Allowance 2024/25 rate is £81.90 per week. This is taxable.
Eligibility
- You receive State Pension
- The person you care for gets one (or more) of the following benefits:
- Personal Independence Payment (daily living component)
- Disability Living Allowance (with the middle or higher rate of the care component)
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance (at full day rate with War Disablement Pension or at least the maximum rate with Industrial Injuries Disablement)
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- A benefit equivalent to any of these from an EEA country or Switzerland
- You provide care for that person for at least 35 hours per week
- You usually live in England, Scotland or Wales
You won’t be eligible if you’re in full-time education.
How will being a carer of pension age affect it?
Carer’s Allowance is a means-tested benefit, so is considered to overlap with State Pension and any other means-tested benefits.
You will only be able to claim the payment if your state pension is less than £76.75 per week. If this is the case, you will be able to claim a smaller amount of Carer’s Allowance to top up your income to £76.75.
How can I claim?
To apply online for Carer’s Allowance click here.
If you’d like a paper form, or need adjustments to help you fill in the form, contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit.
Telephone: 0800 731 0297
Textphone: 0800 731 0137
Address:
Carers Allowance Unit
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2AB
Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit is being replaced by Universal Credit, but you can still make a new claim if you’re of State Pension age. It is money to help with rent.
How much is it?
It’s not a set amount, but you may have part or all of your rent paid, depending on your personal circumstances, who lives with you and their needs. For example, you are likely to get a higher rate if you are living with someone with a disability and spend most of your week caring for them.
Eligibility
You may be eligible to make a new claim if any one of the following applies to you:
- You live alone and have reached State Pension age
- You live with your partner and you have both reached State Pension age
- You live with your partner and one of you started claiming Pension Credit before 15 May 2019
- You live in supported, sheltered or temporary housing, such as a hostel, refuge or B&B. Living in the home of a close relative does not count
Housing Benefit is means-tested so you may not be eligible if you have savings of over £16,000, are paying a mortgage or you live with a partner who is still of working age.
The maximum amount of Housing Benefit you personally are entitled to is called ‘eligible rent’. This amount depends on your circumstances, who you live with and the type of housing you live in.
How will being a carer of pension age affect it?
If you are receiving Guarantee Pension Credit, this will boost how much Housing Benefit you are eligible for.
How can I claim?
You can apply as part of your Pension Credit claim, or through your local council.
Support for Mortgage Interest
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is financial help for homeowners in paying interest on their mortgage or any loans they’ve taken out for home improvements.
It is not help with paying your mortgage or your loans, it is only to help pay the interest they accrue.
Before 6 April 2018 this was a benefit, but since then it has been a loan that you’ll need to repay. You’ll pay interest on this loan, but it will likely be much less than you were paying on your mortgage or other loans.
How much is it and eligibility
You could get help with paying the interest on up to £100,000 of your mortgage or loan.
You may be able to get help with up to a maximum of £200,000 of your mortgage or loan if:
- You get Pension Credit
- You started receiving another qualifying benefit before 2009 and you were below State Pension age when you started getting it. Other qualifying benefits include:
- Income Support, income-based Job Seekers Allowance or income-based Employment Support Allowance for at least 39 weeks in a row
- Universal Credit for at least 9 months in a row
How can I claim?
You can apply for Support for Mortgage Interest when you apply for your qualifying benefit.
If you already get the qualifying benefit, contact the service in charge of that benefit. This could be the Pension Service, Jobcentre Plus or the Universal Credit helpline.
Pension Credit
Pension Credit is for people of State Pension age with an income below:
- £201.05 a week if you’re single
- £306.85 a week (jointly) for couples
Your savings will also be considered when calculating your eligibility. If you have savings of over £10,000, every £500 over that will count as £1 of income. So if you have £20,000 in savings, that will count as £20 per week of income.
Income includes State Pension, other pensions, earnings from work and most benefits. Some benefits you may be receiving, such as Housing Benefit, do not count towards your total income here.
If you’ve deferred your pension, they’ll count the amount of income you would expect to be getting from your pension, had you not deferred it.
As a carer, you may be able to claim some Pension Credit even if your income is higher than listed above.
How much is it?
Pension Credit tops up your weekly income to the minimum required for eligibility (£218.15 a week for a single person, £332.95 a week for a couple). This top-up is called Guarantee Credit.
So if you and your partner have a collective income of £200 a week, you’ll receive a £132.95 a week Guarantee Credit.
If you have a second pension or savings, you may be able to get Savings Credit. You could have this alongside Guarantee Credit or on its own.
Savings Credit is:
- Up to £17.01 a week if you’re single
- Up to £19.04 a week (jointly) for couples
Eligibility
To be eligible for Guarantee Credit you must:
- Have reached State Pension age
- You have a weekly income of less than £218.15 a week
If you have a partner (this must be your husband, wife, civil partner or you are a couple and live together), you need to include them on your application. You may be eligible if:
- You and your partner have both reached State Pension age
- One of you receives Housing Benefit
- You have a joint weekly income of less than £332.95 a week
To be eligible for Savings Credit you must:
- Have reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016
- Have saved some money for retirement
How will being a carer of pension age affect it?
If you care for another adult, you could receive an extra £42.75 per week through carer premium, provided that you or your partner:
- Are receiving Carer’s Allowance
- Or have claimed it in the past but stopped claiming it to claim a higher-paid benefit instead (known as underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance)
If you or your partner has a severe disability, you/they could receive an extra £81.50 a week, or £163 if you both have a severe disability, as long as you also get one of the following:
- Attendance Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate of the care component
How can I claim?
You can apply online here.
To apply by phone:
- Telephone: 0800 99 1234
- Textphone: 0800 169 0133
- Relay UK: 18001 then 0800 99 1234
To apply by post:
Either write to request a paper form or print this form and post it to:
The Pension Service 8
Post Handling Site B
Wolverhampton
WV99 1AN
Council Tax Support
Also called Council Tax Reduction, this is a means-tested benefit to help you to pay your council tax if you’re on a low income. It is for people living in England, Scotland and Wales.
How much support you can get with your council tax depends on your income and capital, but if you’re eligible for and receiving the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit, you should be eligible for the maximum amount of Council Tax Support. This means that your entire council tax will be paid for by Council Tax Support.
In Scotland, this will only pay for your council tax charge, and not any other charges included in the council tax bill.
You can apply to your local council for Council Tax Support.
Rate Relief Scheme
If you live in Northern Ireland, you can get support with your rates.
Eligibility includes:
- If you are of state pension age and have savings of below £50,000
- You get Housing Benefit but it doesn’t cover all of your rate bill
- You don’t get Housing Benefit but your income is only just over the limit to qualify
The application form for Rate Relief is the same as the one for Housing Benefit.
You can apply online for this here.
You can ask the Housing Executive for a form using:
- the Housing Benefit helpline: 03448 920 902
- text relay: 18001 03448 920 902
- email your local Housing Benefit Unit