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Publication - Publication

Carer Support Payment decision making guide

Published
11 Feb 2026
Topic
Carer Support Payment
Temporary breaks in care

Entitlement to payments when there is a temporary break from caring

Carers can continue to get CSP and CAPP in some instances where they have a temporarily break from caring. In any 26-week period, a carer can be paid during breaks in care of up to:  

  • 4 weeks for any reason
  • 12 weeks if they or the person they care for is in hospital or a similar institution

The maximum length of time a carer can have a temporary break in care and still receive CSP or CAPP is 12 weeks in total within a 26-week period. This can include a combination of hospital and non-hospital breaks (3CSP Regs 40 (3)).

If a carer has a temporary break in providing care for more than 4 weeks for any reason or 12 weeks for hospital-related reasons in any 26-week period their entitlement will end (4 CSP Regs 23(1)(c) and (2)) and carers will not receive any further payments until they report that they are providing care again.

Payments can be reinstated through a Determination Without Application (DWA) if they begin providing care again within 26 weeks of the determination ending their entitlement. If they do not report that they are providing care again within a 26-week period their award will be ended and they will need to reapply.

Temporary break in care began before 15 March 2026

There are different rules where a temporary break in care began:

  • before 15 March 2026 or
  • on or after 15 March 2026

The rules for temporary breaks in care changed on 15 March 2026. Where a carer has a temporary break from caring which began before this date, the regulations allow for the old rules to be applied and entitlement to be determined for any period before 15 March 2026 using the old rules. 

Where a temporary break in care began before 15 March 2026, it relates only to CSP. This is because CAPP was introduced from 15 March 2026 and therefore did not exist before 15 March 2026.      

Carers can receive CSP during temporary breaks in care in the first 26 weeks of a paid award. This includes backdated periods. However, they must have already provided at least:

  • 22 full weeks of care for the required caring hours in the last 26 weeks (if no hospital-related breaks occurred), or
  • 14 full weeks of care for the required caring hours in the last 26 weeks (if hospital-related breaks occurred)

The application will ask carers if they have had a temporary break in caring since the date they wish to receive Carer Support. If they wish to receive Carer Support Payment before 15 March 2026, the client advisor will need to call the carer to ask if they have been caring for either 22 full weeks in the last 26 weeks (if no hospital-related breaks occurred), or 14 full weeks of care for the required caring hours in the last 26 weeks (if hospital-related breaks occurred).

These weeks do not need to be consecutive, but they must be full weeks of care that fall within the relevant 26-week period.

Carers do not need to have been receiving CSP during those weeks. 

If the carer does not meet the required number of full weeks of care before the temporary break, their entitlement to CSP must end and may be reinstated through a Determination Without Application (DWA) if care resumes within 26 weeks of a determination ending their entitlement, and they meet all other eligibility criteria (CSP Regs 23(1)(c) and (2)).                                         

Example of temporary breaks in care during the first 26 weeks Carer Support Payment is in payment prior to 15 March 2026

A carer starts getting CSP for the benefit week beginning Sunday 07 September 2025. They only started caring for the cared for person the previous week.

A benefit week runs from a Sunday to Saturday for Carer Support Payment. On Monday 06 October 2025, the carer reports that they have temporarily stopped providing care and are no longer providing at least 35 hours of care that week. The carer reports that they will resume caring again on Monday 20 October 2025.

Because the carer had only provided 4 full weeks of care before the temporary break, they could not continue getting CSP payments during this temporary break in caring.

The change is processed on 10 October 2025. We make a Determination Without Application that the carer is no longer entitled to Carer Support Payment. As the change has been reported on time, the change takes effect from 12 October 2025, the first day of the award week following the week in which we make the determination. 

They would get a Change of Award letter telling them that their entitlement to Carer Support Payment has stopped because they are no longer providing at least 35 hours of care a week. The letter will also explain that their award could be reinstated through a Determination Without Application if:

  • they resume caring within 26 weeks
  • they meet all other eligibility criteria
  • no one else gets Carer’s Allowance, Carer Support Payment or Universal Credit Carer Element for the same cared for person  

If the carer resumes care on Monday 20 October 2025 and reports this on Monday 27 October 2025, this is within 13 weeks of the change.

Their Carer Support Payment award would be reinstated from the start of the award week in which the change occurred. This would be Sunday 19 October 2025 as this is the award week in which they resumed caring. 

If the carer did not start providing care again within 26 weeks of a determination ending their entitlement, and began providing care again after this, they would require to  make a new application for CSP, if they wanted to receive Carer Support Payment again.

Temporary break in care began on or after 15 March 2026

Carer Support replaced Carer Support Payment from 15 March 2026. This introduced one benefit, containing 3 components:

For more information, read the Overview of Carer Support - Rules after 15 March 2026 page.

The rules when carers no longer meet the caring requirement due to a temporary break in care also changed from 15 March 2026 (CSP Regulations 2023, Reg 40 (as amended)).  

Where a carer temporarily stopped caring on or after 15 March 2026, carers can continue to receive CSP or CAPP from day one of their award and no longer need to have been caring for either 14 or 22 full weeks in the last 26 weeks. This is to make the rules simpler and fairer for carers when they have a temporary break from caring. 

Impact on the different components for Carer Support  

Where a carer has temporarily stopped caring for 20 hours or more a week for a specific additional cared for person for CAPP, only that specific CAPP award will be affected.

Where the carer has temporarily stopped providing care for the CSP cared for person and the CSP award is stopping, this will affect the whole award and payments of CSP, SCS and CAPP will all stop.

Similarly where the carer has ceased caring which affects the whole award, CSP, SCS and CAPP will cease to be paid. This is because carers have to be paid CSP in order to be paid SCS and CAPP. 

This will be one determination which will affect all three components of Carer Support. If the temporary break in care affects the Carer Support Payment component, this will end all three components. If the temporary break in care relates to only an additional cared for person then only the relevant Carer Additional Person Payment component will be affected.

Client advisors should always check the clerical change of award letter to ensure that the carer is being notified of the correct component which is affected.              

In any 26 week period, carers can be paid CSP during temporary breaks in care of up to:   

  • 4 weeks for any reason
  • 12 weeks if they or the person they care for is in hospital or a similar institution

The maximum duration of paid temporary break in care is 12 weeks. This can include a combination of hospital and non-hospital related breaks.’

Reporting temporary breaks in care

Carers have a duty to report changes of circumstances whilst getting a Carer Support award, including where they have temporarily stopped providing care and must report any week where they provided less than:

  • 35 hours a week for CSP
  • 20 hours a week for CAPP

Though carers do not have to meet the caring requirement where a cared for person has died and support continues for 12 weeks. 

As part of the Carer Support application, carers will be asked to provide information on any temporary breaks in care from the date they want their award to start, including for backdated awards.

Any temporary breaks in care during the backdated period should be treated in the same way as a temporary break during the course of a Carer Support Payment or Carer Additional Person Payment award.

The carer’s award must also end if the cared for person or additional cared for person stops receiving a qualifying disability benefit (unless the cared for person has died).

If the qualifying benefit for the primary cared for person ends, this will end the whole Carer Support award. If it is the qualifying disability benefit for an additional cared for person, only the relevant Carer Additional Person Payment award will end.

For more information, read the operational guidance on change of circumstances.

Also refer to the content on this page under the following headings:

  • 'Temporary break in care began before 15 March 2026'
  • 'Temporary break in care began on or after15 March 2026'
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