News

Changes to invalid care allowance from October could bring big gains for many pensioners.

The good news is that ICA will be extended to new claimants aged 65 and over, ending the rule that it must be claimed before that age. It also means that older carers will be able to claim ICA on the same basis as all other claimants. The bad news is that ICA overlaps with retirement pensions. So most pensioners who claim ICA will be told that they are not entitled because their retirement pension is worth more.

The second piece of good news, though, is that these "unsuccessful" claims for ICA will give rise to "underlying entitlement to ICA", should the person meet the eligibility rules.

This underlying entitlement means that the carer premium of £24.80 a week can be added to the pensioner’s income support or housing benefit calculation. For example:

• Janet, 66, looks after her 42-year-old son who has a learning difficulty. He receives disability living allowance care. Joan has income support of £23.15 a week to top up her £75 retirement pension. She can now claim ICA. She will not be paid it (because her retirement pension is higher), but she will receive the carer premium of £24.80 a week. 
• Betty and Alf are 79. Alf has attendance allowance. They do not receive income support because their other pensions come to £10 a week too much. Betty claims ICA but it is not paid because her retirement pension is higher. However, they can now claim income support including the carer premium. They would receive an extra £14.80 a week after the premium is added. Six months later, Betty’s health deteriorates, so she claims attendance allowance too. If Alf can meet the criteria for ICA, they could receive two lots of carer premium, so their income support rises by £24.80. They would also be entitled to two "severe disability premiums", worth a further £84.50 a week. The premium is not paid if someone receives invalid care allowance for looking after the disabled person, but in this case no one is, so the underlying entitlement does not count.
• Norman, 70, provides substantial care to his neighbour, Jean, who has attendance allowance. Norman has £15,000 savings, a retirement pension and housing benefit. Norman claims ICA, and is told he has underlying entitlement. This entitles him to the carer premium within his housing benefit, which increases his benefit by £16.12 a week (65 per cent of £24.80). His council tax benefit would also increase.

When claiming ICA pensioners should show the letter saying that the allowance cannot be paid to the office that deals with their income support or housing benefit. The allowance will not be paid automatically.

A note of caution: beware of cases where the pensioner could qualify for ICA and the person being cared for is on income support and already receiving the severe disability premium. Receiving ICA would then have the effect of reducing the disabled person’s income support by £42.25 a week.

So now you have the simple job of telling pensioner carers to claim a benefit that they probably will not get in order that they can get extra money from other benefits that they might not yet be receiving.

More information from www.carersonline.org.uk

Gary Vaux is head of money advice, Hertfordshire Council. He is unable to answer queries in person, either by post or by telephone. If you have a question to be answered in Welfare Rights, please write to him c/o Community Care