Rates of Carer Benefits

Rates and thresholds are weekly unless otherwise stated.

As noted above, from 15 March 2026, an award of Carer Support will consist of two or three components payable together: Carer Support Payment, Scottish Carer Supplement and, where relevant, Carer Additional Person Payment.

*From 15/3/26, Carer’s Allowance Supplement is replaced for most clients by the weekly Scottish Carer Supplement. There will be some clients who will still be eligible to receive CAS in 2026-27 instead of SCS (see the Carer’s Allowance Supplement section of this guidance) so the amount is uprated for these clients.

For current rates of components visit Carer Support Payment - mygov.scot. For previous rates see Disability, winter heating and carers benefit payment amounts.

Carer Support is usually paid via bank transfer to a nominated bank account. All three components – Carer Support Payment, Scottish Carer Supplement, and any Carer Additional Person Payment a carer is entitled to will be paid at the same time. 

The carer may not have access to a bank account. If this is the case, Social Security Scotland will contact them to establish a suitable payment method.

Rate and form of the Carer Support Payment component

There is only one rate of Carer Support Payment (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 16) – for details see Disability, winter heating and carers benefit payment amounts. Carers may receive a lower amount than this if they are also getting an ‘overlapping benefit’. The amount of Carer Support Payment should be reduced by the amount of the overlapping benefit.

Rate of Scottish Carer Supplement

There is only one rate of Scottish Carer Supplement (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 16(1A)) – for details see Disability, winter heating and carers benefit payment amounts. Scottish Carer Supplement is paid for every week in which the carer is paid the Carer Support Payment component and is not reduced by any other benefits the carer receives.

Rate of Carer Additional Person Payment

There is only one rate of Carer Additional Person Payment (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 16(1B)) (for details see the rates section of this guidance), but a carer can receive more than one Carer Additional Person Payment if they care for more than one additional cared for person. There is no limit on the number of people for whom a carer can receive Carer Additional Person Payment. However, situations in which someone is caring for a total of four or more people will be rare, and these cases will be subject to additional checks to consider whether the caring hours requirement for Carer Additional Person Payment is met. [REFER TO chapter on when a carer requests to add more than three additional people to their Carer Support case]

Overlapping benefits – benefits that can’t be paid at the same time as the Carer Support Payment component

Overlapping benefits are benefits that can’t be paid at the same time because they are paid for the same purpose. Carer Support Payment is an ‘income replacement’ benefit so it can’t be paid in full at the same time as other ‘income replacement’ benefits.

Where a carer is entitled to Carer Support Payment and one of the overlapping benefits below at the same time, the amount of Carer Support Payment should be reduced by the amount of the overlapping benefit the carer is getting.(Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 16 (2) and (3))

The overlapping benefits are: 

• State Pension
• Retirement Pension
• Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Unemployability Supplement that is paid with Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit or War Pension 
• Widow’s Allowance or Widow’s Benefit
• Widow’s Pension or Bereavement Allowance 
• Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• War Widow’s or Widower’s Pension 
• Maternity Allowance
• Industrial Death Benefit 
• Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (also known as ‘New Style’ Jobseeker’s Allowance), or 
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (also known as ‘New Style’ Employment and Support Allowance)
• Training Allowance

These benefits are paid by the DWP with the exception of: 

• Training Allowance
• the Unemployability Supplement paid with War Pension; and
• the War Widow’s or Widower’s Pension

Training Allowance is usually paid to young people in work-based training by their local authority. War Pension and the War Widow’s or Widower’s Pension are benefits for war veterans or their families and are paid by Veterans UK on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. 

Where the overlapping benefit the carer is getting is worth less than Carer Support Payment, the amount of Carer Support Payment they should receive is the difference between the amount of overlapping benefit that they are getting and the amount of Carer Support Payment.

Where the amount of the overlapping benefit the carer is getting is equal to or more than Carer Support Payment, the amount of Carer Support Payment will be calculated at £0. (Carer Support Payment Regulations, Regulation 16 (2) and (3))

Underlying entitlement - when a carer is receiving another benefit that can't be paid at the same time as Carer Support Payment

If a carer receives an award of the Carer Support Payment component that is calculated at £0 because they get an overlapping benefit, they will have what is called ‘underlying entitlement’ to the Carer Support Payment component, meaning they are not entitled to be paid any of the other components of Carer Support. This is because being paid Carer Support Payment is an eligibility criterion for Scottish Carer Supplement and Carer Additional Person Payment.

‘Underlying entitlement’ means the carer is eligible for Carer Support Payment because they fulfil the eligibility criteria, but we don’t make payments to them because they are already getting another benefit for the same purpose that the Carer Support Payment component is paid – that is, for income replacement. This term is also used by the DWP.

Underlying entitlement to the Carer Support Payment component can allow carers to get benefits they couldn’t get before or extra amounts in other benefits. 

Please note, the rates of benefit in the examples are 2025-26 rates – you can view current rates for Carer Support components at Disability, winter heating and carers benefit payment amounts.

Underlying entitlement – effect on DWP benefits 

Carers who are entitled to the following benefits can get extra amounts if they have ‘underlying entitlement’ to the Carer Support Payment component: 

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance 
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Income Support 
• Housing Benefit 
• Council Tax Reduction 
• Universal Credit 
• Pension Credit 

The extra amount paid with income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction is called a Carer Premium. It is worth £46.40 a week (2025/2026) and can be paid at a double rate if a carer and their partner both qualify.

The extra amount paid with Universal Credit is called a Carer Element. It is worth £201.68 a month (2025/26). Carers who are eligible for Carer Support Payment will also be in the ‘no work-related requirements’ group for Universal Credit.

The extra amount paid with Pension Credit is called a Carer Addition. It is worth £46.40 a week (2025/26) and can be paid at a double rate if a carer and their partner both qualify.

Having ‘underlying entitlement’ to the Carer Support Payment component will also mean a client is considered to be in ‘qualifying paid work’ for access to Tax Free Childcare from HMRC.

Information on underlying entitlement 

Information on the potential benefits of underlying entitlement is included in the award notice for Carer Support, provided to clients who are awarded underlying entitlement for the Carer Support Payment component (or who have an ongoing award which changes to underlying entitlement). Clients can use the letter as proof of their ‘underlying entitlement’ to Carer Support where they need this to access other support.