Forgot to sign on and Carer's Allowance

[thebigdaddy]

I stupidly forgot to sign-on last Wednesday (1st of June) I was at a review the week before and I mistakenly thought I was to sign next Wednesday, when I was updating my job search diary I realised, I was over due to sign on, I tried phoning them but they where closed. I will phone on Monday and plead my case of confusion about the review and signing-on, going by this on the internet, I will probably have to attend a interview and lose a weeks benefit. Does this make me the Muppet of the week. lol

 

My wife lost her carer's allowance as she got a wage rise and went £3 odds over the £100 limit, as I am signing-on I decided to claim the carer's and take over the care of our disabled son, as I only get £6.30 per week CJSA, and I assume I will lose this amount from the carer's, so the question is :-

 

Would I be better to sign-off and claim the £31 carer's premium on top of the carer's allowance.

[Nystagmite]

You can't claim carers allowance and JSA.

[thebigdaddy]

Now i am confused, can you explain.

 

I was under the guise that what ever I get from carer's, minus my jsa,,,, ie, jsa £6.30, carer's £55.55, so in total I would get £49.25 from carer's or do I sign off and claim carer's only and the carer's premium.

 

From the carer's/directgov website,,,,

 

How much do you get?

The weekly rate is £55.55. This is reduced by the amount of certain other benefits, including State Pension, that you get.

If you receive certain other benefits at £55.55 or more a week, you won't get Carer's Allowance as well.

[Nystagmite]

To claim JSA, you must be actively seeking work. A carer who receives Carers Allowance, isn't required to do this.

 

http://www.benefitsnow.co.uk/carers'/otherbenefits.asp explains it in a bit more detail.

[thebigdaddy]

OK now I understand, so I should sign off from jsa and then claim the carer's premium along with the carer's allowance.

 

I will phone the carer's number on Monday and confirm with them what what I should do.

 

Thanks for all of your help.

 

James

[flumps1976]

Not true sorry. You can claim carers allowance and still claim for Job Seekers Allowance. As long as you are caring for someone 35 hours per week (which could purely include nights and sleeping times) and you are still actively seeking and available to take employment you can continue to claim JSA.

The only problem is that you state you are receiving £6.30 JSA. Do you have another form of income to reduce your contribution based JSA for example a pension? You receive JSA © so you will also be affected by the overlapping benefits ruling which could mean that you would receive either JSA or Carers Allowance as you cannot receive a contribution based and carers allowance together so you need to consider which of the two benefits is best suited to your circumstances.

[thebigdaddy]

Hi flumps,

 

I receive income based jsa and with the wife working part-time I receive £6.30 jsa,

 

Yes I am still seeking work and I do care for our son, He is a 20 year old man with downs syndrome (he cannot tie is shoe laces, so yes a lot of caring)

 

When I was working (night shift), I was the daytime carer and the wife was his night time carer, and when I get employment, I will more than likely lose the carer's allowance, unless I get a job paying less than £100.

 

cheers

 

James

[Nystagmite]

You do know that the £100 is after certain deductions?

[flumps1976]

Thebigdaddy sorry I thought I read in you original post £6.30 CJSA.

 

Should be no problem with you receiving the carers allowance, how many hours is your wife working now? Not sure if you could possibly change in the short term to Income Support until you find employment that fits in around your caring responsibilities. If you wife works under 24 hours per week then you can consider transferring to Income Support and you can continue to look for work but without the ties of a Job Seekers Agreement and the fortnightly visits to sign on.

 

You would only get the £31 carer premium either through your Job Seekers Allowance claim (this would have been payable to your wife as she was a carer on the claim and therefore entitled to receive that as part of your joint award) or through a claim to income support.

[thebigdaddy]

Hi flumps

 

The wife works 12.5 hours, and yes we do receive the carer's premium just now but they reduce my IJSA accordingly, I will phone the carer's number on Monday and discuss this with them and I will probably sign off, claim full carer's allowance and the carer's premium. Does this mean I don't have to phone the jobcentre and confess myself as a Muppet for the confusion about my sign-on day

 

Thanks for all of your help.

 

I will come back Monday and let you all know how I got on.

 

cheers

 

James

[flumps1976]

If you don't contact the Jobcentre to arrange to go in to sign on Monday then your claim will be closed on Thursday morning marked as failed to sign and you will not receive any further payments of JSA.

My advice to you is to do as follows.

Contact your JCP office on Monday and sign late and complete the relevant paperwork giving your reason for not attending on your required day (Weds 1st June) you may receive a letter explaining that a doubt has arisen on your claim as you failed to attend on your correct signing day (this is a standard procedure and depends on the reasons for not attending and if good cause can be established or not by the Team Leader in you JCP office).

Obtain and complete the claim for for carers allowance, http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017542 this link means you can either aply directly on line or download and print off the form. Inform the JCP office when you attend that you are claiming for carers allowance and ask for a meeting with your adviser to alter your Job Seekers Agreement due to the change in your household circumstances (you may get a same day appointment or an appointment for a futture date).

I would continue with the claim for Job Seekers Allowance until the Carers Allowance is actually awarded to you as if you closed your claim now Income Support could not apy you anything until the decision to pay carers allowance is made which would mean no help with prescription costs for you or your wife, no he4lp with housing costs as they would be suspeneded until the decision is made so it is far easier to continue as you are currently, the carers premium will continue on your JSA claim so your entitlement should not end and your JSA would actually increase as there will be no carers allowance to reduce your JSA award.

I hope this makes sense if not shout and I'll try again.

[thebigdaddy]

Hi flumps,

 

The carer's allowance as been award 31 may but I do not get a payment till 4 july, as they need to contact my local jobcentre and confirm my jsa payments. backdated to 2 may (start of claim)

 

I will do as you have said I will contact jobcentre Monday and plead my moment of madness and hope they continue jsa if I lose some because of my mistake then so be it, it was my fault. And I will speak to a adviser and see how they wish to proceed with the jsa and carer's.

 

Thanks for all of your help.

 

James

[flumps1976]

Good luck for tomorrow, with luck you can get an appointment through to sort out your new temporary Job Seekers Agreement. Although as ther carers has been awarded from 31 May you could discuss closing your claim nfor JSA now and claiming IS as the Carers Allowance award has been made so there is no reason that they can't process the IS claim. Any problems ask to see the Customer Service Adviser to conduct an AJCS (Accessing Jobcentre Customer Service) appointment.