Carers missing out on £840m in unclaimed benefits

Carers are missing out on over £840m in benefits each year, Carers UK revealed today.

On the annual Carers Rights Day, the charity said that about 300,000 people entitled to carer’s allowance were missing out on the benefit.

“We hear from families who are simply not told about the support that is there for them,” said Carers UK chief executive Imelda Redmond.

“Many also don’t see themselves as carers, but as mothers, sons, partners and friends looking after ill or disabled loved-ones. As a result, they miss out on support and end up caring round the clock without a break, and struggling to pay even basic food and heating bills,” she said.

Today’s figures were calculated using statistics from a Department for Work and Pensions report on take-up of carer’s allowance, published earlier this year, which found that one in three carers do not claim.

A regional analysis by Carers UK showed the north west of England had the highest amount of unclaimed carer’s allowance at £114m while Northern Ireland had the smallest surplus at £50m.

Carers Rights Day, an annual campaign to draw attention to the needs and entitlements of carers, celebrates its tenth anniversary today.

Related articles