Process where there are multiple applications for the same cared for person
When a Carer Support Payment application is received and Carer Support Payment is already in payment to another carer providing care to the same cared for person, the application should not be determined immediately.
The two carers should be contacted, and sent the rival carers form, advising them that another carer has made an application and asking if both carers are able to agree who should receive Carer Support Payment.
The form asks the carers if they are still providing 35 hours of care a week for the cared for person, if they agree that the other carer should get the payment, and if they and the other carer agree on who should get payments. They have one calendar month to respond.
Carers need to sign a declaration on the form and there is space for the other carer to sign the same form where the carers agree on who should get support. The form notes that if the carers don’t agree, each carer needs to complete the separate form they have received.
Information provided with the forms recommends the carers seek benefits advice to find out how their income could be maximised by reaching an agreement with each other or applying for other forms of support.
Where carers agree who should receive support
If it is agreed by both carers that the original carer should receive support, a determination should be made that the second carer is not entitled to Carer Support Payment and the application would be denied.
If it is agreed by both carers that the second carer should receive support, the original carer’s entitlement can be ended through a determination without application and Carer Support Payment should be awarded to the second carer.
Notes should be added to the original carer’s record to set out that the reason for their award end was due to another carer being entitled and that they had agreed that another carer should receive support.
The award for the second carer would begin on the first day of the benefit week after entitlement has ended for carer 1. There should be no backdating or overpayment recovery in these cases.
Example: An application for Carer Support Payment is received on 9 May 2023
Another carer is already receiving Carer Support Payment for caring for the same person. Form is issued to both carers on 10 May 2023. Responses are received 17 May 2023 and both carers agree carer 2 should now receive Carer Support Payment. Carer 1 has been paid Carer Support Payment to 20 May 2023. Entitlement for carer 1 ends on 20 May 2023 and entitlement for carer 2 begins on Sunday 21 May 2023.
Where carers do not agree who should receive support
If carers do not agree on who should receive support, a decision will need to be made on which carer should receive the benefit.
Where there are questions about the eligibility of the carers
During the process of contacting the two carers, we may get evidence that indicates that carer 1 is no longer eligible for support (for example they are earning over the earnings threshold). We would need to look at this to check if carer 1 still meets the eligibility criteria. If this shows they are no longer eligible, we would make a determination without application on the basis of this new evidence, and the award for carer 1 should be ended. This would allow Carer Support Payment to be awarded to carer 2.
Entitlement would begin for carer 2 on the first day of the benefit week after entitlement has ended for carer 1. When carer 1’s entitlement should end in this situation would depend on when the evidence shows they stopped being eligible.
Where the evidence shows that carer 1 was never eligible, this would indicate that the initial determination was made in error. This would mean that the effective date for the change to end the CSP award, would be the beginning of the award week in which the original determination was made.
Where the evidence shows the change in eligibility happened in the past but the carer had previously been eligible, it may be that carer 1 has knowingly failed to notify us of a change or failed to notify us as soon as reasonably practicable. If this is the case the change to end carer 1’s award should take effect from the beginning of the award week after the change in eligibility.
Where the change has been identified through the process, it may still be the case that the carer couldn’t have been expected to notify us or hadn’t knowingly failed to notify us. In this case the effective date is the first day of the award week following the week in which the determination to end carer 1’s award is made.
Where the effective date of change is in the past, and carer 1 has been overpaid Carer Support Payment, overpayments should be recovered in the normal way. This would also allow Carer Support Payments to carer 2 to be backdated in line with the backdating rules, if they met the criteria for Carer Support Payment throughout the backdating period (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 18(2)(b))
Where we get evidence during the process that carer 2 is actually not eligible, Carer Support Payment would remain with carer 1 and we would make a determination that carer 2 is not entitled.
Example: Carer 2 submits an application for Carer Support Payment for the same cared for person for whom carer 1 is already receiving support
As part of the process of contacting both carers, carer 2 provides evidence that carer 1 has moved out of the country. As there is doubt over the eligibility criteria the decision maker investigates and decides that Carer 1 no longer meets eligibility for Carer Support Payment and awards CSP to carer 2. Carer 1 has the right to request a re-determination of the new decision if they disagree.
Where both carers are eligible
Where there is no agreement between the two carers on who should receive the support, and both carers are eligible, in that both meet all Carer Support Payment eligibility criteria and both are providing 35 hours or more of care a week for the cared for person, we need to determine which of the two carers should receive support. The Department for Work and Pensions makes decisions on UK benefits on behalf of The Secretary of State and Social Security Scotland make decisions on devolved Scottish benefits on behalf of Scottish Ministers.
This determination should take into account factors including, but not limited to, the family connections between the carer(s) and cared for person, where the carer(s) and cared for person live, and whether the carer(s) are receiving any benefits on behalf of, or as a result of their responsibility for, the cared for person. Determinations of this kind should also take into account the best interests of the cared for person. This could include situations where the cared for person has contacted us about one or more of the carers who has applied for support. Carer Support Payment may be awarded to one carer rather than another because they are a parent or relative of the cared for person, if they live in the same household as them, if they are an appointee or other representative of the cared for person, or receiving benefits, for example Child Benefit, because of their responsibility for the cared for person.
Where a carer is currently receiving Carer Support Payment and Scottish Ministers determine they are no longer the carer, Carer Support Payment award should be ended and Carer Support Payment should be awarded to the other carer.
Where this is the case, the Carer Support Payment award of the first carer should end on the first day of the award week following the week in which the determination is made by Scottish Ministers, and the award to the second carer should begin on the first day of the award week after the award to the first carer is ended. There should be no backdating or overpayment recovery.
The use of this determination process would not affect the re-determination and appeal rights of either carer.
Example: Alexsandr and Lana and are parents to Mariya, who receives Child Disability Payment. Alexsandr and Lana are separated. Carer Support Payment is in payment to Alexsandr who provides 35 hours of care each weekend when Mariya stays with him. Lana makes an application for Carer Support Payment and there is no agreement between the two on who should receive support. Mariya lives with Lana during the week, where Lana provides 24/7 care. Lana also receives Child Benefit payments for Lana and payments of their Child Disability Benefit. In this case, while both carers meet the criteria, it is considered that Lana’s caring role is more likely to impact on their life and ability to work and it is decided that they should be entitled to receive the benefit instead of Alexsandr.
‘Shared care’ situations and meeting the 35 hour caring requirement
There may be some situations where carers are sharing caring responsibilities for a cared for person, for example where parents who have separated each provide care for their child at different times. This may mean that the two parents care for the child on alternate weeks when the child stays with them. Depending on when and how the care is provided this may mean that either both parents are eligible, or neither are.
To be eligible for Carer Support Payment, the carers would need to be providing 35 hours of more of care each week for the child. The week for Carer Support Payment runs from Sunday to Saturday. It may be that each parent is providing 35 hours each week as a result of when they are providing care, and caring responsibilities they have even when the child is not there.
For example,they may have communications (e.g. phone calls) with their child or their child’s other carer, communication with their child’s school or doctors, cleaning/laundry, shopping, preparing their home for the child to stay etc. which amount to 35+ hours of care every week, even while their child is physically at their other carer’s house.
Where situations like this occur, client advisers should contact the client to explain the situations in which we would consider them eligible/where we would not and then to ask them whether they fulfil the criteria of providing 35+ hours of care on every award week. If it was established that both carers did meet the criteria, it would remain the case that only one could be eligible for Carer Support Payment. If neither carer would meet the criteria due to how caring hours are arranged, they may want to adjust these so that at least one of them may be eligible for support.
Example: ‘shared care’ and situations where the 35+ hours caring requirement would be met
Tracy and Martin both provide care for their daughter Lily. Though they are separated and do not live in the same home, they reside in the same town and Lily lives with her mother Tracy from Sunday-Wednesday, and midway through the week, Tracy drops off Lily at her father Martin’s home as standard.
Martin provides regular and substantial care for his daughter from the Wednesday evening until Saturday evening each week, including helping Lily to get washed and dressed, dropping her off and picking her up from school and preparing her meals and medication.
Therefore, each parent therefore provides care for over 35 hours and meet the caring hours requirement for Carer Support Payment and both would be eligible. Only one carer could be eligible for Carer Support Payment. If both applied, a ‘rival carers’ process would be needed to decide who should receive support.
Example: ‘shared care’ and situations where the caring hours requirement would not be met
Azra and Kamir both provide shared care for their daughter Ayla. As within the previous example, Azra and Kamir are separated and live in separate homes. Azra confirms that she and Kamir care for Ayla every other week for more than 35 hours on the weeks they are caring.
However, neither of them provides 35 hours of care every week. This means neither of them are eligible for Carer Support Payment. For one of them to be awarded Carer Support Payment they would need to adjust their caring arrangements so that one of them was providing 35 hours of care each week for Ayla.
Multiple carers and temporary stops in entitlement process
Carer Support Payment may be temporarily stopped in certain situations (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 23).
This is so that the carer does not need to re-apply, should they become entitled again within 26 weeks. This makes it easier and quicker for the carer to receive support again, if their entitlement has only temporarily ceased.
This can happen due to the carer’s earnings exceeding the threshold, interruptions to entitlement of the cared for persons qualifying benefit or temporary stops in care.
Where entitlement temporarily stops, the carer (carer 1) will receive a notification telling them that their award has ended, and advising them to get in touch if their circumstances change (and they are entitled to CSP again) within 26 weeks so that they can begin to receive support again. The notification will also advise that if another carer is awarded Carer Support Payment for the same cared for person that the award will end.
The award will also end if after 26 weeks the carer has not become entitled again. In circumstances where awards have ended, the carer will need to make a new application. If another carer has been awarded CSP during this period, this application would require a process to determine which carer should be provided support.
Example: Kathy is receiving CSP and begins to earn over the earnings limit
Her CSP award is ended and she receives a letter advising if her circumstances change within 26 weeks and she becomes entitled to CSP again, to get in touch with the agency who will consider reinstating her CSP award.
On week 15 Hazel claims CSP for the same cared for person. The client advisor checks that no one else is receiving CSP and finds that Kathy is not currently entitled and her case has been closed. Hazel is awarded CSP.
On week 23 Kathy contacts the agency to advise her earnings are now below the earnings threshold and she wishes to receive CSP again. Kathy is advised that another carer has been awarded CSP and she would need to make a new application. Kathy applies for CSP for the same cared for person as Hazel. Where Kathy meets all other eligibility criteria, the process in this chapter should be carried out to determine who should receive support.
Multiple carers and cared for person dispute process
Where two carers have applied for CSP and don’t agree who should be awarded support, the regulations allow for the ‘best interests of the cared for person’ to be taken into consideration in decisions about who should be awarded support. In situations where a cared for person has contacted us to dispute that one of the carers in a multiple carer situation is providing care then this should be taken into consideration, along with all other evidence provided by all parties in order to make a determination on which carer should receive support.
If in situations where a cared for person does not have capacity to act on their own behalf, evidence should be obtained (where possible) in order to confirm the cared for person cannot contribute to the cared for person dispute process and the multiple carers process should be carried out in order to make a determination on which carer should receive support.