Carer’s Allowance in the UK
Carer’s Allowance is the main benefit for people who care for someone for at least 35 hours a week. It’s taxable, it can affect other benefits, and it comes with National Insurance credits toward your State Pension.
One thing that catches people out: it doesn’t work the same way across the whole UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you claim Carer’s Allowance through the DWP. In Scotland, it has been replaced by Carer Support Payment, delivered by Social Security Scotland, which comes with an automatic top-up of its own. This section covers both routes.
What are you trying to do?
Pick what matters most right now and we'll help you find your next step.
Who can claim: the core conditions
- • Care for at least 35 hours a week for one person — you can’t combine partial hours across several people to reach the threshold.
- • The person you care for receives a qualifying disability benefit — such as the daily living component of PIP, the DLA care component (middle or highest rate), Attendance Allowance, or Armed Forces Independence Payment.
- • You earn no more than £204 a week after allowable deductions (from 6 April 2026).
- • You’re 16 or over and not in full-time education (generally 21+ hours of supervised study a week).
- • You meet UK residence and presence conditions, including immigration status requirements.
Read the full eligibility guide, including edge cases →
How the £204 earnings limit is worked out
The limit applies to your earnings after allowable deductions, and it is a hard cliff-edge rather than a taper — going even £1 over in a week loses the full payment for that week, not a reduced amount.
- • Income tax and National Insurance come off your gross pay first.
- • Certain expenses can be deducted too — including payments to someone (who isn’t a close relative) to look after the person you care for, or a child under 16 you get Child Benefit for, while you work. That deduction is capped at half your earnings.
- • Self-employed carers are assessed on profit after allowable business expenses, not turnover.
- • Paid monthly? The DWP divides monthly pay across the relevant weeks, which can create individual weeks that appear to breach the limit even when the monthly average is fine. If you’re close to the threshold, contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit before applying.
Why the earnings limit causes overpayment debts →
Work through it question by question
Three quick questions based on the published Carer's Allowance rules — we'll point you at the next real step.
1. How many hours a week do you spend caring for them?
Guides in this section
What you’ll need before you start — eligibility, documents, and what happens after you apply. Covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Why the DWP is reassessing cases going back to 2015, how the earnings limit creates no-taper debt, and how carers can avoid being caught out.
The automatic weekly top-up paid alongside Carer Support Payment in Scotland — how much it is and who gets it.
National Insurance credits for carers providing at least 20 hours of care a week — the option when you fall short of the 35-hour rule.
Every eligibility condition explained — earnings limits, full-time study rules, and what happens when more than one person cares.
Tools
An interactive checklist that walks through everything you need to gather before you apply, with the option to print or save your progress.
Not sure what else might apply to you? Check what else you may qualify for →