Applying for Carer Support Payment

This chapter describes the rules about applications for Carer Support, which replaced Carer Support Payment from 15 March 2026. Carer Support is a single benefit that is made up of three components:

• Carer Support Payment,
• Scottish Carer Supplement,
• and Carer Additional Person Payment.

References to ‘Carer Support’ in this guidance refer to the whole benefit (all three components).

The term ‘Carer Support’ is not to be used in public facing communications or with clients. For the regulations, it was necessary to use an “umbrella term” for the whole benefit which includes the three components: Carer Support Payment, Scottish Carer Supplement and Carer Additional Person Payment. User Research with carers demonstrated that carers find the number of names for their carer benefits confusing. While it’s necessary to identify individual components it is not necessary to refer to Carer Support in applications, notifications and other content. Therefore, these will outline the three component payments separately to provide clarity, and the same approach should be used in verbal client communications.