Benefits for carers

For detailed information about all benefits, visit Carers UK is also a good source of information about benefits.

Council Tax Benefit
This benefit helps people to pay their council tax. The amount you get depends upon who is in your family and the level of your council tax. Both your income and your savings are taken into account. You cannot claim if your savings are more than £16,000, unless you get Pension Credit.

If you receive Carer's Allowance, you may be able to get extra help paying your council tax through Carer Premium. You may be able to get reductions to your council tax which don't depend on your income or savings. For instance, the tax may be reduced if your home is adapted for a disabled person or if a carer or paid care worker lives there.

Council tax discount for carers
To qualify for this 25% discount you must provide care for at least 35 hours a week and:

• live with the person you are caring for
• not be the partner of the person you care for, or their parent if you care for a child under 18
• care for someone who receives either the highest rate of the care component of the Disability Living Allowance, or the higher rate of Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance

Please note: You don't have to claim Carer's Allowance to qualify for this discount. If there is more than one carer in the property, each carer might qualify for a discount. The carer's council tax discount can be backdated, so long as you met the conditions above in previous years. To apply for this, contact your local council tax office.

Direct payments for services
Payments can also be made to carers and those they care for, to arrange their own support and services instead of having these arranged from them by social services. This is to give people more choice, control and flexibility in arranging who provides a service, what the service should be and how it is provided.

Direct payments are also available to parents/carers of a disabled child.

For more information about direct payments, please contact your care manager or the customer contact centre on (020) 8825 8000.