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Change of circumstances
As with other benefits, clients will have a duty to report a change of circumstances in order to maintain their award. When reporting a change, the client should tell us about changes to their circumstances depending on their earnings pattern.
For more details see Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, Regulation 56
The impact of a client’s change of circumstances on their Carer Support Payment award may be that:
- the award remains unchanged (e.g. following consideration of an increase in earnings, the client’s earnings are still under the earnings threshold)
- the payment amount reduces (e.g. they are awarded an overlapping benefit which reduces the amount of Carer Support Payment they can be paid)
- the payment amount increases (e.g. they stop getting an overlapping benefit)
- their entitlement ends – this may be permanent or may be a ‘temporary stop in entitlement’ depending on the circumstances
- their entitlement restarts after a ‘temporary stop in entitlement’
Effective date of change
The date from which a change of circumstances affects a client’s entitlement to Carer Support Payment is known as the ‘effective date.’ This date will depend on:
- what the change of circumstances is
- when the client reports the change
- the effect the change has on entitlement
If a determination of entitlement is made as a result of a change of circumstances, this would be a determination of entitlement to all three components of Carer Support (i.e. including Scottish Carer Supplement and Carer Additional Person Payment).
The effective date rules are different depending on whether the change of circumstances would lead to:
- an increase or reinstatement of Carer Support Payment award
- a decrease or end of Carer Support Payment award
Further guidance on deciding the date that a change of circumstances affects Carer Support Payment entitlement can be found at Effective date | Social Security Scotland.
As soon as reasonably practicable
Regulations set out that clients have a duty to tell us about changes of circumstances ‘as soon as reasonably practicable.’
In the context of earnings, the policy is that the client would need to tell the Agency of the change either:
- immediately after it happens
- within a reasonable timeframe such as 4 weeks
We may get information from a third party before a client has told us about a change in their earnings e.g. from HMRC data. This does not necessarily mean that the client has failed to tell us about the change on time.
A four-week period balances practicality, fairness and administrative feasibility. It reflects that many carers may not know their earnings immediately and themselves having competing priorities that may prevent them from notifying the Agency of changes immediately.
If the change was not reported within 4 weeks, the client advisor must ask the client why they didn’t report the change sooner.
A client or an individual acting on their behalf may have had exceptional or mitigating circumstances that mean they could not have possibly reported the change sooner e.g. family bereavement or severe illness.
Forward allocation rules and effective date
Where the effective date depends on when the client stopped meeting the eligibility criteria, decision makers should remember that entitlement is assessed based on the previous week’s earnings. If a client earns over the limit in one week, they stop meeting the earnings eligibility criteria in the following week.
Please note these illustrative examples have been worked out using the 2025-26 earnings threshold. For a list of current and previous threshold amounts please see operational guidance on benefit rates.
Example of a client who has told us about an earnings change ‘on time’
Kobi is getting Carer Support Payment for caring for his mother Anna. Kobi also works part-time at a shop. Earnings data from HMRC is received which generates a system alert that his earnings are over the limit following pay he received on 15 December 2025.
The client advisor contacts Kobi on 18 December 2025 to check whether he has any deductions or disregarded earnings that would bring his net earnings below the limit.
Kobi does not have any deductions or disregarded earnings. His net earnings are confirmed to have increased to over the limit from Sunday 14 December. This is because we treat earnings as paid from the first day of the award in which they are received.
In this case, we received information about the change from a third party and confirmed this change with Kobi within a reasonable timeframe.
We can consider that the change was reported ‘on time.’
The effective date of change should be the first day of the award week following the week in which we make the determination.
If we make the determination on 18 December 2025, that Kobi is no longer eligible for Carer Support Payment, this will therefore take effect from Sunday 21 December.
Kobi stops getting Carer Support Payment from Sunday 21 December.
Example of a client not reporting a change ‘on time’
Siobhan is getting Carer Support Payment for caring for her son Finley. When she applied and was awarded CSP in January 2025, she was not working. She then became a self-employed hairdresser and started earning from this work on 7 May 2025 and earned:
- £900 between 7 May 2025 to 31 May 2025
- £850 between 1 June 2025 to 30 June 2025
Siobhan reported that she had earnings over the limit on 1 July 2025.
A client advisor conducts an unscheduled earnings review and requests that she completes a Self-Employment Questionnaire about her earnings, allowable business expenses and other deductions.
Siobhan completes the Self-Employment Questionnaire for the assessment period 7 May to 30 June (a period of 8 weeks).
Siobhan’s net earnings are averaged over this period. Siobhan only had allowable business expenses of £40 during this period. Siobhan’s average net weekly earnings are:
£900 + £850 = £1,750
£1,750 - £40 = £1,710
(£1,750 / 8) = £213.75
Looking at the details of her earnings and at the payments she actually received, Siobhan started receiving earnings over the limit in the week she started self-employment – Sunday 4 May 2025.
It is considered that Siobhan did not tell us ‘on time’ about changes to her earnings circumstances as she did not tell us within 4 weeks of starting to earn over the limit.
The effective date of change for when her Carer Support Payment would stop is the first day of the award week after the week she should have told us about the change i.e. by Sunday 8 June
Example of a client not reporting a change ‘on time’ but had mitigating circumstances
David is getting Carer Support Payment for caring for his sister Lorna and works part-time in a bar. David is paid monthly. His earnings vary because he works different shifts each week. On application his average earnings were £185 a week.
HMRC data shows that David’s average earnings were over the limit from 25 May 2025. David contacts the Agency on 1 July 2025 to report that he has earnings over the limit after receiving a payslip that showed earnings that were higher than usual.
Given the variable nature of David’s earnings, it is considered reasonable that he reported the change in his earnings slightly more than 4 weeks after he stopped meeting the eligibility criteria.
The effective date of change is the first day of the award week after the week in which we make the determination. If the determination to stop David’s Carer Support Payment was made on 1 July 2025, David’s Carer Support Payment would stop on Sunday 6 July.
Example of a client not reporting a change ‘on time’ but had mitigating circumstances
Amira is getting Carer Support Payment for caring for her father Yusuf. When she applied in February 2025, she was not working. In June 2025, Amira started a job as a receptionist and began earning month from 27 June 2025. She received the following earnings:
- 27 June 2025 - £1,200
- 25 July 2025 - £1,250
Amira’s weekly gross earnings are over the limit.
Amira’s mother passed away on 15 June 2025 and Amira was heavily involved in funeral arrangements and supporting her family following the bereavement. Amira did not report a change in her circumstances until 28 August 2025.
Amira confirmed that she had no deductions or disregarded earnings that would bring her earnings under the limit.
It is considered that Amira had mitigating circumstances following the family bereavement. It is considered reasonable that Amira reported the change later than 4 weeks.
The effective date of change is the first day of the award week after the week in which the determination was made. If the determination to stop Amira’s Carer Support Payment was made on 28 August 2025, Amira’s Carer Support Payment would stop on 31 August 2025.
Example of a client reporting a change within 13 weeks that leads to a restart of Carer Support Payment
Orna was getting Carer Support Payment for caring for her grandmother but her award stopped on 13 April 2025 because her earnings were over the limit.
On 15 May, Orna reduced her working hours and started receiving earnings below the limit.
Orna contacted the Agency on 10 July 2025 that she had been earning less since 15 May. This is within 13 weeks of the change occurring. The effective date of change is the first day of the award week in which Orna satisfied the conditions for Carer Support Payment to restart.
If Orna started receiving earnings below the limit from Sunday 11 May, Orna would satisfy the conditions for Carer Support Payment to restart in the following week – Sunday 18 May. This is because of forward allocation rules where earnings in one week affect entitlement in the following week.
Some examples of when clients should report changes are set out below – these are for information and are not exhaustive.
Examples of changes for employed clients:
- receiving a higher wage or salary
- receiving a lower wage or salary (relevant if their award had been temporarily stopped due to their earnings)
- started getting additional earnings other than wage/salary
- stopped getting additional earnings (relevant if their award had been temporarily stopped due to their earnings)
- had a change in deductions
- had a change in working pattern
- ceased current employment and became unemployed
- ceased current employment and started a new job
- start trading as self-employed as well
- ceased current employment and became self-employed only
Examples of changes for self-employed clients:
- ceased trading as self-employed and became unemployed
- ceased trading as self-employed and became employed only
- change to deductions
- change to normal pattern of business that would mean that the client is earning more or less than usual e.g. new premises of trading less due to caring responsibilities
- started another business
- received additional earnings other than income into the business
Examples of when unemployed clients should report changes:
- starting to work as an employed earner
- starting to work as a self-employed earner
- receive a one-off payment from working