IS, CA, JSA and German nationals

Forgive my ignorance of immigration rules here as i deal with such cases maybe once a year or so.

I have a client who is a German National

Moved to UK in July 2014 to care for a friend

Tried to claim JSA but had issues with Jobcentre Plus, probably due to HRT

His friend gets MRC, and as he lives with her there is no SDP to lose/worry about if he claims CA

So : Will this gentleman be able to claim a Carers allowance now + Income support?

Thanks, as always

You need to pass the HRT for Carers Allowance - CPAG p1555.

Thanks.

I suspected that HRT was the issue but as he has been here 3 months hopefully that is sorted.

Income support is another thing…. I dont think he has ever worked here so possibly not entitled.

Unfortunately the past presence test for CA is now 104 out of the last 156 weeks I believe? Co-ordination rules could exempt him but you would need more info about work history, whether he has lived in the UK previously, whether any family members live/work here?

He may be able to claim ibJSA for 6 months though?

Not my area of specialty either I’m afraid.

He might also be have problems with the past presence test for CA. The national rules say you have to have been here for 104 weeks of the preceding 156 and the decision-makers in my experience don’t seem to look beyond this. But as a German national, your client should benefit from the EU social security co-ordination rules in Regulation 883/2004. Article 6 of that Reg allows you to aggregate periods of residence spent in other EEA states with that spent in the UK. This assumes, of course, he has resided within the EEA before moving to the UK.

Edit: just saw tbidmead’s post. Just to clarify, there are two mechanisms through which these rules work. The first is the domestic rules, which disapply the past presence test if your client can show a genuine and sufficient link to the UK social security system. For this, you would need a work history, whether NI paid, whether family members, etc. The second is using Regulation 883/2004, art 6, directly. By the sounds of it, your client does not have a genuine and sufficient link to the UK social security system so he would need to rely on art 6 directly.

I agree probably not entitled to IS on RTR grounds unless he is able to start some kind of work or self-employed activity other than caring for this friend. Doesn’t need to be full-time, or of any particular number of hours or wage, so long as it is genuine and effective. If he starts self-employed work, he doesn’t even need to start earning straight away so long as he is taking genuine steps to establish a business. This could be, e.g., an ironing business, teaching German…