Benefits for the person you care for

The person you care for may be entitled to several benefits because of their condition and circumstances. It can be difficult to identify exactly which benefits they might be able to claim.

There are three main types of benefit:

• Earnings replacement benefits (benefits that are paid if the person you look after is not in paid employment).
• Benefits contributing to extra costs (e.g. those relating to disability or having a child).
• Benefits and tax credits which top up low income.

Your step-by-step guide

The person you care for may be entitled to one benefit or a combination of all three types of benefits. To work out which benefits they're entitled to, follow these steps.

Step 1 - check for earnings replacement benefits

Check if they're entitled to one of the earnings replacement benefits. If they're entitled to more than one of these benefits, the benefit that offers the highest amount of money will be paid.

Step 2 - check for cost contributions

Check if they're entitled to any Disability Living Allowance (DLA) if they make a claim before the age of 65 or Attendance Allowance (AA) if they make a claim after the age of 65. DLA is paid if the person you care for is severely disabled and has poor mobility (ability to get around) or needs help with personal care. AA is paid if the person you care for is severely disabled and needs help with personal care.

If they have children, they should also receive Child Benefit payments.

All these benefits can be paid on top of any earnings replacement benefit.

Step 3 - check for top-ups

Check if the person you're looking after is entitled to any top-up benefits or tax credits.

Top-up benefits are known as means-tested benefits because they're only paid if the person you care for has limited income and capital. They're paid in addition to other benefits to top up your income, depending on the benefits you're receiving.

The following are means-tested benefits that the person you care for could qualify for:

• Income Support: this is paid to some people, who are below the qualifying age for the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit, who are on a low income and who don’t have to sign on as being unemployed, such as carers or lone parents.
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance: a benefit paid to people under 65 who have a limited capacity for work due to ill health or a disability. It can also help with the interest part of your mortgage payments.
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance: this is paid to people who are actively seeking work. It can also help with the interest part of your mortgage payments.
• Pension Credit: this has two parts: the guarantee credit, which is paid to people who have reached the qualifying age, in order to top up their income, and the savings credit, which is paid to people aged 65 and over and rewards them for having some savings. Pension credit can also help with some mortgage payments.
• Housing Benefit: paid to people who pay rent and have a low income.
• Council Tax Benefit: paid to people who are liable for council tax and have a low income.

Claiming DLA or AA increases the amount of income that the person you care for can have coming in and still receive one of the means-tested benefits. Because of this, if they have just started to get DLA or AA they should check if they're entitled to a means-tested benefit, even if they've previously been refused the benefit.

Entitlement to means-tested benefits often enables a person to receive other benefits such as free school meals, health benefits and social fund payments.

There are two types of tax credits, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.

Child Tax Credit is paid if the person you're looking after is in or out of work and has responsibility for a child. It is means tested. Working Tax Credit is paid if they work and have a low income.

The official online source of government information on benefits is Directgov.

Click on the bars below for more detailed information on benefits for the person you're looking after.