Carer Support Payment is a payment of £81.90 per week. Carers need to be 16 or over and provide unpaid care for 35 hours or more a week to someone who receives a qualifying disability benefit. The Carer also needs to earn less than £151 per week after tax, National Insurance and expenses.

This benefit is for people over the age of 16 who spend at least 35 hours per week caring for a person in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit.

35 hours per week

35 hours of caring each week might sound like a lot, but you can easily do this much without realising. There is no single definition of caring, but you should count the hours you spend with the person you care for:

• helping them get dressed, wash, go to the toilet and move about at home
• checking they are safe, giving emotional support and advocating on their behalf
• cooking, cleaning and doing other household tasks because they can’t manage them or need help to do them.

You don’t have to spend time caring every single day. The Department for Work & Pensions looks at the hours you spend caring over a week (Sunday to Saturday). You may still qualify if you care for someone only at weekends or in the evenings. You need to be spending time caring every week: you can’t average it out over a number of weeks. You won’t need to have a home visit to apply for Carer Support Payment.

You can only apply for Carer Support Payment for one person, even if you care for more than one person. If you care for someone and they care for you or someone else too, you can both claim as long as you meet the other conditions.

Carer Support Payment became available in Highland from November 2024 and it replaced Carer’s Allowance in Scotland. If you get Carer’s Allowance and live in Scotland, you do not need to apply for Carer Support Payment, you will be automatically moved to Carer Support Payment by Spring 2025.