Who Can Claim Carer’s Allowance

Carer’s Allowance eligibility comes down to a specific set of conditions — all of which need to be true at once. Here’s each one explained, including the edge cases that trip people up most often.

The core conditions

• • Care for at least 35 hours a week. This can be for one person or split across caring for more than one person, but the hours must add up to 35+ for at least one care recipient — you can’t combine partial hours across multiple people to reach the threshold.
• • Earn no more than £204 a week after deductions like tax, National Insurance, and certain expenses (from 6 April 2026). Going even £1 over this limit loses the full payment, not a reduced amount.
• • The person you care for receives a qualifying disability benefit — such as the daily living component of PIP, Attendance Allowance, or Armed Forces Independence Payment.
• • You’re 16 or over.
• • You’re not in full-time education — generally meaning 21+ hours of supervised study a week.
• • You meet UK residence and presence conditions, including immigration status requirements.

Common edge cases

• • Students: full-time education generally disqualifies you, but the exact hour threshold and course structure matter — worth checking your specific situation rather than assuming either way.
• • Self-employed carers: you can still claim if you meet the earnings limit after allowable business expenses are deducted.
• • Caring for more than one person: you can claim, but you can’t combine hours across different care recipients to reach 35 hours for any single one — the threshold applies per person.
• • You don’t need to live with the person you care for, and you don’t need to be related to them.
• • Only one person can claim Carer’s Allowance for the same care recipient — if multiple family members share care, you’ll need to agree who claims.

What doesn’t disqualify you

• • Receiving your own disability benefit (like Attendance Allowance) alongside Carer’s Allowance is generally fine
• • Not being related to or living with the care recipient

If you don’t quite qualify

If you’re under the 35-hour threshold, Carer’s Credit may still apply to protect your National Insurance record.

Keeping track of your eligibility

Since so much of this depends on hours and specific thresholds, keeping a clear record of your caregiving time and the care recipient’s benefit status makes it much easier to confirm eligibility and apply. FeatherKeep tracks this automatically as you go.

Related guides

• • UK Carer’s Allowance hub
• • How to apply for Carer’s Allowance
• • Carer’s Credit