Official error leading to an underpayment
An official error may result in an underpayment when Social Security Scotland:
- fails to award Carer Support to an individual where they are entitled to it (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 37 (b)(i))
- awards a lower amount of Carer Support to an individual than the amount they are entitled to (Carer Support Payment Regulations, regulation 37 (b)(ii))
Where an official error has led to an underpayment of Carer Support, this can be corrected using a determination without application.
Where the error was cause or contributed to by the client – the client has failed to provide information, or provided inaccurate information – they would need to submit a re-determination request for the determination to be looked at again.
Where a client has requested a re-determination of a determination and there has been official error, a determination without application can’t be carried out as the redetermination would need to be completed instead.
Example 1: Client error – inaccurate information provided
Shivan is self-employed and provides care for Ruaridh.
Shivan submits an application for Carer Support and provides supporting information detailing their self-employed earnings. They include some information on expenses when reporting their earnings, however the information they provide includes inaccurate information on their expenses which does not include some expenses that can be deducted from earnings in working out entitlement to Carer Support.
Social Security Scotland calculate Shivan’s earnings and they determine that Shivan is not eligible for Carer Support because they are over the earnings limit.
This results in Shivan’s Carer Support application being denied.
Shivan receives the notice and seeks advice from a welfare rights advisor who advises them that there are further expenses that could have been taken into account in determining their entitlement to Carer Support. They advise Shivan to submit a re-determination request and provide the additional information on their expenses.
Shivan then contacts Social Security Scotland about the error in the determination of their entitlement to Carer Support. As the error was a client error and Shivan has submitted a re-determination request a determination without application can’t be made to correct the error.
The re-determination is carried out using the correct earnings information and finds that Shivan is entitled to Carer Support.
Example 2: Official error in not applying allowable expenses, leading to an underpayment
Patrycja applies for Carer Support as a fluctuating earner which means there are occasions where Patrycja’s earnings are above the earnings threshold (for current and previous threshold rates please see disability, winter heating and carers benefit payment amounts).
When the client advisor assesses Patrycja’s earnings using data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the client advisor can see that Patrycja has an irregular payment cycle and their earnings differ each time.
When calculating Patrycja’s earnings, the client advisor uses correct information from HMRC but misinterprets the Earnings Decision Making Guidance, and does not take allowable expenses away from the weekly earnings figure. As a result of not taking the expenses into account, the client advisor determines that Patrycja earns too much to qualify for Carer Support.
Had the client advisor taken the expenses into account, as set out in the Decision Making Guidance, this would have resulted in Patrycja being found entitled to Carer Support as their average earnings would be below the earnings threshold.
This mistake results in Social Security Scotland underpaying Patrycja.
To correct the official error that has led to an underpayment, the client advisor would need to conduct a determination without application to backdate an award of Carer Support to the award date that Patrycja first applied for.
Example 3: official error through misapplication of eligibility criteria, leading to underpayment
Adrian who is terminally ill and cares for Niall applies for Carer Support.
The client advisor determines that Adrian is not entitled to Carer Support because Adrian does not pass the Carer Support ‘past presence test’.
The client advisor arrives at this conclusion by following decision-making guidance for Special Rules for Terminal Illness, but this decision is not consistent with the rules set out in the Carer Support regulations which exempt terminally ill clients from the past presence test.
A client advisor would need to make a determination without application to award Adrian Carer Support from the award start date they first applied for. Social Security Scotland would also need to revise the Special Rules for Terminal Illness decision-making guidance to ensure it was consistent with the Carer Support regulations.
Example 4: official error through assessment of application against historic eligibility criteria, leading to an underpayment
The eligibility criteria for Carer Support is amended to extend eligibility to a further group of students in full-time, non-advanced education with certain exceptional circumstances with effect from 23 June 2024.
Gordon is 18 and does not live with or receive any support from their parents. They are studying a full-time, non-advanced education course and apply for Carer Support in July 2024.
The application is considered by a client advisor who mistakenly applies the eligibility criteria that pre-dates 23 June 2024, refusing Gordon Carer Support due to his age and education status.
Had the client advisor correctly applied the new eligibility criteria, Gordon would have been awarded Carer Support.
To correct the official error that has led to an underpayment, the client advisor would need to make a determination without application to backdate an award of Carer Support to the award date that Gordon first applied for.
Example 5: official error through assessment of application against historic eligibility criteria, leading to an underpayment
The eligibility criteria for Carer Support are amended from 15 March 2026 so that there will no longer be a requirement for carers to have been providing care for at least 14 or 22 of the past 26 weeks to become entitled to continue to be paid during a temporary break in care. Instead, temporary breaks in care must amount to no more than 4 or 12 weeks out of the last 26. This means that carers do not have to have been providing care for 14 or 22 weeks before they can have a temporary break.
Vivienne applies for Carer Support in June 2026 and it is backdated 8 weeks to the date she started providing care. Two weeks later, Vivienne’s cared for person goes to stay in a care home for a week’s respite care. Vivienne reports this temporary break in care. The client advisor mistakenly applies the previous rules, and ends Vivienne’s entitlement to Carer Support, on the grounds that she cannot have a temporary break in care within the first 22 weeks of her Carer Support award.
Had the client advisor correctly applied the new criteria, Vivienne’s Carer Support would have remained in payment, so this is an official error leading to an underpayment. To correct the official error, the advisor would need to make a determination without application to replace the determination made in error and restore Vivienne’s continuous entitlement to Carer Support.