Abatement

When a client first applies for Carer Support

It is possible for some of a client’s first payment of the Carer Support Payment component of Carer Support to be reduced through a process called ‘abatement’. This can happen if the client is receiving certain benefits from the DWP when they apply, or if they are living with a partner who is receiving one of these benefits (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 17. The benefits are:

• Income Support 
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance 
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Pension Credit 

When a client receives the Carer Support Payment component of Carer Support it will reduce the amount they receive in these other benefits. This is because they cannot be paid Carer Support Payment and the full amount of any of these other benefits for the same period.
 
At the same time, they can also receive extra amounts (known as premiums) because they are a carer. These premiums help to provide additional financial support over and above their Carer Support Payment.

Where Carer Support Payment is awarded and the client is receiving one of these other benefits it will reduce the other benefit £1 for £1 and changing the amount that they get paid in these benefits.
 
When a client is awarded Carer Support Payment and is already receiving another of these benefits it creates an 'overpayment' because they have already been paid the other benefit for the same period that they are due Carer Support Payment.

The abatement process is therefore used to offset any overpayment by reducing their first payment of Carer Support Payment and so that the DWP does not contact the client and ask them to pay back the overpayment, making it easier for the client.

Clients will need to agree to, or ‘unreasonably refuse to agree to’ the ‘abatement’ process before this can be carried out (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 17(2)). Clients are asked on application if they, or their partner, are receiving any of the above benefits. If they are, they are asked if they agree to us reducing their first payment of Carer Support Payment so that DWP don’t need to recover overpayments of these benefits from them directly.

Clients are asked on application if they, or their partner, are receiving any of the above benefits. If they are, they are asked if they agree to us reducing their first payment of Carer Support Payment so that DWP don’t need to recover overpayments of these benefits from them directly.

If a client does not agree to the abatement process, we could not carry this out. We would need to pay their Carer Support Payment component as normal and ensure they are aware that this will mean the DWP will need to recover the overpayment of their DWP benefits (e.g. Income Support) in another way in future. More information about the abatement process and how to carry this out is available in operational guidance. 

Where the client has not answered abatement questions on application and does not respond to calls and correspondence asking if they agree to the abatement process, after 30 days we can decide they have ‘unreasonably refused’ to agree and continue with the abatement process.

Where the abatement process is required, a date in the future would be selected as the date on which ongoing payments of Carer Support Payment would start.

The amount of Carer Support Payment the client would be entitled to between the start of their entitlement and this future date should then be calculated. The period between the start of the client’s entitlement and the date payments will start is called the ‘abatement period’.

The amount of Carer Support Payment the client is entitled to for the ‘abatement period’ is shared with the DWP, along with the date ongoing payments of Carer Support Payment would start.

The DWP then provide a calculation of the amount by which the first payment of Carer Support Payment should be reduced.

The DWP’s calculation is based on the amount which will have been overpaid in the relevant legacy benefits during the ‘abatement period’ and Social Security Scotland is not required to make this calculation.

Social Security Scotland are also not required to check the calculation provided by DWP. However, in a situation where it is considered there is a clear error in the calculation provided by the DWP (e.g. a number is missing, or the information we have provided appears to have been used incorrectly) we could ask DWP to look again at the calculation or enquire about the information used.

After being notified by the DWP of the amount by which the Carer Support Payment award should be reduced, Social Security Scotland should then pay the carer the remaining arrears of Carer Support Payment and ongoing payments can then begin.

Social Security Scotland will provide the client with a notification of their award, the amount they will be paid, how this has been calculated and the date on which regular payments of Carer Support Payment will begin.

This will be a determination notice and clients will be able to challenge this if they disagree with the use of the abatement process or outcome of the abatement process or anything else about the decision. 

This would be as part of the standard re-determination and appeal process which applies to other determinations of entitlement to Carer Support Payment.

Abatement and the other components of Carer Support

Scottish Carer Supplement and Carer Additional Person Payment don’t affect carers’ other benefits and so they are not included in the abatement process or any abatement calculation. However, where an abatement process is required for the Carer Support Payment component of a client’s Carer Support award, the overall determination of a client’s entitlement to Carer Support would need to be made after this abatement process has completed - so a single determination of entitlement to all Carer Support could be made, including the impact of the abatement process on the Carer Support Payment component.

Abatement following a change of circumstances

Where a client, or a partner they live with, is getting one of the legacy benefits listed above and their Carer Support entitlement ends, but is later reinstated following a ‘temporary stop in entitlement’ an abatement process should be followed before the award is reinstated. 

This is because if we reduce or temporarily stop a client's Carer Support Payment due to a change of circumstances, DWP will reduce or increase their income-related benefit for the period they’re not getting any Carer Support Payment. When we restart or increase a client's Carer Support Payment, DWP won’t be able to amend the income-related benefit in time. This could mean the client is overpaid for their income-related benefit and DWP then has to recover the money from them. 

If the client agrees to the abatement process following a change of circumstances, we can reduce their next payment when we restart or increase their payments following a change of circumstances. This means they will not have to pay any money back to DWP later for their income-related benefits. For more information and to carry out an abatement process following a change of circumstances see operational guidance: Abatement process for a change of circumstances | Social Security Scotland

Abatement and Universal Credit 

If a client is getting Universal Credit, the Carer Support Payment component will affect their Universal Credit award. It will reduce the standard award at a rate of £1 for £1 but they would also be entitled to an additional amount as a result of their caring role. There is no ‘abatement’ process in Universal Credit.

The DWP should take any payment of Carer Support Payment into account from the start of the Universal Credit assessment period when it is received.

 If a client gets backdated payments of Carer Support Payment, then the DWP should take these into account in the equivalent Universal Credit assessment period.

Where Universal Credit has already been paid for a past period and DWP cannot offset Carer Support Payment for the relevant assessment period, this results in an overpayment of Universal Credit. The DWP will recover this through deductions from the client’s monthly Universal Credit award. No action will be required by Social Security Scotland. Information for clients sets out that being awarded Carer Support Payment can lead to overpayments of their Universal Credit but that they will be better overall if awarded Carer Support Payment.