CA/IS underlying??

This is a new one on me.

I have a client who claims CA+IS for looking after his mother (£59.75 + £45.25)

She has just been admitted to hospital last week and he has been told CA will stop due to this.

I queried this and was told that CA claimants are allowed 4 weeks break from caring due to hospital admissions in a 6 month period, and will still receive CA during this 4 week period.

They said, however, that CA must have been in place for at least 22 weeks before the “caring break” rule applies to continue payment

This is in CPAG page 550.

The claimant unfortunately has only been in receipt of CA for about 3 months, so doesnt meet the 26 week rule, hence the stopping of Carers allowance.

Both myself and Income Support recommended closing IS claim and claiming JSA until his mother comes back out of hospital.

He spoke to carers allowance today, and they said they would send an Email to Income Support explaining that CA is not in payment, but that as his underlying entitlement was still there they should increase his income support.

I take it that this means he will get £105.00 a week Income Support to top up the fact that CA is no longer in payment.

Is this right??? Never come across this before and i cant find anything in CPAG book to back this up.
Income Support arent sure either, however gone are the days when i expect JC+ to know this stuff

I didnt think that an underlying entitlement would apply here to increase Income Support??

Opinions?

Thanks

Schedule 1B (4)(5) of the IS regs allows your client to continue to recieve IS as a carer for up to 8 weeks following CA ceasing and 14ZA of Schedule 2 of the IS regs allows a CP to continue to be included in the award for that period. So I think your client should indeed receive IS of £105.00 pw.

After 8 weeks your client will no longer be entitled to IS and will have to claim JSA (or possibly ESA if client has a sympathetic GP?)

Update.

Unfortunately my clients mother passed away last night, and the carers unit have refused to do the 8 week run on of CA as entitlement of payment ceased on the day his mother was admitted, and as she wasnt discharged (as she died in hospital) then it did not go back into payment, so they cannot pay the £59.75 a week CA for eight weeks.

Apparently they (carers unit) say Income Support SHOULD be paid at £105 a week for 8 weeks as he is still technically classed as a carer however Income Support will not back down on this and are saying CP makes no difference : No carers in payment means he aint a carer, regardless of what anyone says or what regs we quote.

Carers unit emailing Income support confirming that IS should be paid but im not hopeful.

Bit late, but CPAG p.551 does state that receipt of CA doesn’t matter, as periods caring before CA began count towards the 22 weeks (or 14 if the reason the 22 were not met was because the caree was in hospital).

I believe the underlying entitlement following death rule does apply and I don’t think it matters that the caree was in hospital (CPAG p252).

I hope you issued a complaint.