Carer's Allowance claimants may miss out on the £900 cost of living support.
The Chancellor used his autumn statement to announce that the energy price guarantee will continue for a further 12 months from April, but will rise from the current £2,500 to £3,000 per year for the average household.
Jeremy Hunt announced new one-off payments of £900 to households on means-tested benefits, £300 to pensioner households, and £150 for individuals on disability benefit.
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There will be an additional £1bn funding to enable further extension to the household support fund.
But despite the Chancellor confirming Carer's Allowance would increase, this group of people is likely to be left out of the new £900 Cost of Living support.
Carer’s Allowance, which is a benefit given to unpaid carers in the UK, is currently worth £69.70 a week. This equates to around £279 each month and £3,624 a year, reports the Express.
Next year, Carer's Allowance will rise to £75.74 which equated to £302 each month and just short of £4,000 each year. More than eight million households across Britain on means-tested benefits will receive an extra cost of living payment of £900.
This is expected to be paid over two instalments in 2023 and 2024. The qualifying benefits remain the same as those for the £650 cost of living payment made to eligible households in July and in November.
This, therefore, means that unpaid carers will not benefit from the support. People who claim Carer's Allowance will only receive support if they claim a means-tested benefit or are in a household where someone on a means-tested benefit does qualify for the £900 payment.
DWP has been asked several times over the last few months by MPs and charities, if there are plans to provide additional support to people claiming Carer’s Allowance. However, the Government department has responded on every occasion stating that cost of living payments are targeted at households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefit.
Although no official statement in regards to Carer’s Allowance claimants receiving the £900 cost of living payment has been made by the DWP. Charities have voiced their frustration with the Government for this decision after lobbying for a change over the last year.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK said: “We’re relieved that benefits are being uprated with inflation but this doesn’t tackle the long-lasting and systemic issues with the level of Carer’s Allowance which remains the lowest benefit of its kind, despite carers providing 35 hours of care.
“We need an urgent review of the benefit to ensure that carers don’t experience the kinds of poverty and financial hardship that we’ve seen even before the cost of living crisis.
“Whilst the extra funding for social care is welcome and will help with some of the pressure points in social care, it still falls short of what we really need to give carers the breaks and support they need - 40 percent of carers have not had a break in the last year.
“Long term sustainable funding of social care must remain an urgent priority for Government, to provide a decent life for people needing care, to prevent carers from having to give up work in order to care and to stop their health and wellbeing from deteriorating.”
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