Who can make a new application
An individual, or someone acting on their behalf can make an application. The individual must meet all of the following eligibility criteria for Carer Support Payment:
- age (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 4)
- provision of care to a cared for person (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 5)
- residence and presence (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulations 6-11)
- entitlement to other benefits (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 12)
- education (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 13)
- earnings limit( Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 14)
Someone may be acting on behalf of another adult who is unable to complete the application themselves because of incapacity.
This could be an appointee (someone appointed by Social Security Scotland or Department for Work and Pensions to act on behalf of the individual), or someone with Power of Attorney, Guardianship, or a Tutor or Curator Bonis in Scotland.
They may be referred to as a Personal Acting Body (PAB) or Corporate Acting Body (CAB).
Age
An individual who is 16 years of age or older can be eligible for Carer Support Payment.
Provision of care to a cared for person
Carers must be providing ‘regular and substantial care’ to someone who is getting a qualifying disability benefit. ‘Regular and substantial care’ is defined as 35 hours or more a week.
The care must not be provided under a contract or as voluntary work done for a charity or other not-for-profit organisation.
Carers can’t receive more than one Carer Support Payment award for the same period even where they are caring for more than one person (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 5).
Residence and presence
Only the carer needs to meet the residency criteria, not the cared for person.
To receive CSP, carers will need to be:
- ‘ordinarily resident’ in Scotland, and
- ‘habitually resident’ in the Common Travel Area (the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands), and
- ‘present’ in the Common Travel Area, and have been ‘present’ in the Common Travel Area for at least 26 of the past 52 weeks.
In general, if someone is ‘ordinarily resident’ somewhere it means that they live there. If someone is ‘habitually resident’ somewhere it means that place is their main home and they intend to stay there. More information on residence.
Carers will also need to have a right to public funds. For example, someone seeking asylum to the UK who has not yet been granted asylum does not have a right to public funds (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulations 6-11).
For more information on residence, check the residence and presence guidance.
Entitlement to other benefits
It is not possible for a carer to get Carer Support Payment if another carer is receiving any of the following for care they provide to the same cared for person:
- Carer Support Payment
- Carer’s Allowance
- the carer element of Universal Credit
A process will need to be carried out if an application is received for Carer Support Payment and another person is already getting one of these benefits for the same cared for person. These situations are sometimes known as ‘rival carer’ situations.
There may be situations where carers are sharing care for a cared for person over the same award week and both could be eligible as they each provide 35+ hours of care a week. Only one carer can receive Carer Support Payment for care of the same person and a 'rival carers' process would need to be carried out. Client Advisors should follow the advice set out in the Rival Carers DMG.
An individual can be entitled to CSP in respect of a cared for person where another individual is entitled to Young Carer Grant for that cared for person.
Education
Students cannot receive CSP if they are aged 16 to 19 and studying full-time, non-advanced education. There are some exceptions to the rule for students with certain circumstances.
Earnings limit
Applying for Carer Support Payment more than once
It is not possible for an individual to apply for Carer Support Payment more than once in respect of the same period (Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, section 38(3)).
The period covered by an application for Carer Support Payment – and for which an individual would be unable to apply again once this application has been determined – begins on the day the application is treated as made, or on the carer’s chosen start date, where backdating has been requested, (for more information, check the 'Backdating - where a carer chooses a start date in the past' guidance), and ends on the date the determination is made, or the date entitlement begins, whichever is later (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 18(4)).