Exemption from past presence test
Normally people would need to have been 'present' in the Common Travel Area (this includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) for 26 out of the past 52 weeks to get support – this is known as the ‘past presence test’.
Clients do not have to meet this ‘past presence test’ if they, or any of the people they care for, are terminally ill.
If a client is exempt from the past presence test based on terminal illness, but would otherwise fail the test, their award can only start from the date the relevant disability benefit was awarded under special rules, and where all other eligibility criteria were met on this date. The disability benefit is the benefit paid to either the carer or cared for person (including any additional cared for person(s) they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) under either SRTI for devolved Scottish benefits or SREL for reserved DWP or NIDfC administered benefits.
Where any other eligibility criteria have only been met for some of the period since the disability benefit was awarded, the client should only be paid from the first date after the award week that they met all of the criteria.
If the carer doesn’t meet the past presence test and neither they nor the person they care for (including any additional cared for person they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) is terminally ill (and none of the other special circumstances apply) client advisers cannot award Carer Support. More information on other reasons a client may be exempt from the past presence test is included in guidance on residence and presence.
Process where clients fail the past presence test
Where a client fails the past presence test, the process for applying an exemption for SRTI will depend on whether they, or any person they care for (including any additional cared for person they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) is getting a disability benefit from Social Security Scotland, or from DWP or NIDfC.
Client/cared for person is getting a Social Security Scotland benefit
If a client fails the past presence test and they or the person they care for (including any additional cared for person they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) are terminally ill and have been awarded a disability benefit under SRTI from Social Security Scotland, they will be automatically exempt from the past presence test and awarded Carer Support Payment.
Client/cared for person is getting a benefit from DWP or NIDfC
If a client fails the past presence test and they or the person they care for (including any additional cared for person they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) are terminally ill and have been awarded a disability benefit under SREL from the DWP or NIDfC, they will not be automatically exempt from the past presence test because we will not be able to see this information on Social Security Scotland systems or Insight. They will be sent a letter explaining that they have failed the past presence test but that they could be exempt from the test for a number of reasons, including if they or the person they care for (including any additional cared for person they have requested Carer Additional Person Payment for) are terminally ill and have been awarded a disability benefit under SREL. They will then be asked to provide evidence of this.
Past presence exemption and backdated claims before 15 March 2026
This section will apply where Carer Support Payment entitlement needs to be considered for a period before 15 March 2026. Carer Support Payment was replaced by Carer Support from 15 March 2026. For the period before this, entitlement to Carer Support Payment should be assessed based on the regulations as they were in force at this time.
To ensure that carers were not disadvantaged by living in a local authority outside of the initial pilot areas for Carer Support Payment, special backdating rules were in place for some clients applying between 19 November 2023 and 02 February 2025. This included clients who would have been eligible for Carer Support Payment only due to exemption from the past presence test as a result of terminal illness. More information on these rules if needed is available in the Applying for Carer Support Payment Decision Making Guidance.
Clients may be eligible for extended backdating where they are applying within 13 weeks of a qualifying disability benefit decision. In the unusual situation that someone is eligible following a decision to backdate their award to a date before 19 November 2023, when Carer Support Payment was introduced. It won’t be possible to do this for clients exempted from the past presence test due to terminal illness. This is because there is no equivalent exemption for Carer’s Allowance so the client would not have qualified for Carer’s Allowance at this time. More information if needed is available in the Applying for Carer Support Payment Decision Making Guidance.