Requesting that an award of Carer Support be cancelled

Individuals who are entitled to Carer Support have the right to request that their entitlement to Carer Support be cancelled and payments be stopped. This involves cancelling the individual’s entitlement to assistance. (SS(S) Act 2018 s. 26(1)) It is important to note that if an individual wants to end entitlement, this would end entitlement to the whole award.

For example, an individual  cannot decide they do not wish to receive Scottish Carer Supplement (SCS) but still receive Carer Support Payment(CSP). SCS is paid automatically if someone is receiving CSP so if someone wanted to stop receiving SCS their whole Carer Support award would have to be cancelled.

An individual  does have a choice about receiving Carer Additional Person Payment (CAPP) – they can choose not to apply for it in the first place, or if they’re receiving the payment and believe they’re no longer entitled, they can report a change of circumstances instead of ending entitlement to their whole award.  For more information  see changes of circumstances.

An individual  may also withdraw an application for assistance before a determination is made. (SS(S) Act 2018 s. 39)

Where a carer requests that Carer Support be cancelled, the cancellation of the entitlement must take place either:

• immediately or
• at a later date, specified in the request. (SS(S) Act 2018 s. 26(2))

The cancellation will take effect on the first day of the following award week. This is because Carer Support cannot be paid for part of a week.

You should explain to the individual that they cannot be paid further assistance after Carer Support is cancelled (SS(S) Act 2018 s. 26(3))by a determination and that this may impact on other benefits they are in receipt of.

This means that they’d need to reapply if they wanted to receive Carer Support in the future. You should also confirm that cancellation is the correct step to take, rather than making a determination without application due to a change of circumstances. If the individual has made a valid request for cancellation, you must comply with it.