Colleagues,

Pardon me if I am missing something, but what in principle prevents you claiming IBJSA on top of Carers Allowance? They don't seem to formally overlap, according to the DMG.

The obvious impediment is availability for work, but if reduced availability could be negotiated, would this work? The claimant's contributions aren't good enough for CBJSA, so an underlying entitlement to carers allowance (and therefore carer premium) would not be possible on the grounds of a background CBESA award. In any event, the CBJSA would run out after 6 months.

We are therefore looking for a longer term entitlement to carer premium, by the claimant retaining carers allowance within the IBJSA.

Am I barking up a wrong tree?

Steve

Not clear on your post, but will say - Whats wrong with Inc Supp

Sorry! Client is EU national, and would probably no have right to reside for IS purposes.

The definition of ‘personal benefit’ is defined in reg 2(1) of the Social Security (Overlapping Benefits) Regulations 1979 as ‘includes a contribution based jobseeker’s allowance but not an income based jobseeker’s allowance’ so income based JSA is not an overlapping benefit.

As they need to care for 35 hours a week, when does the caring take place? It does not have to be in the working day. It could be evenings and weekends for example and if it does not restrict the hours available for work and there is a reasonable prospect of securing work then I would suggest a claim for JSA could be made in these circumstances. They will obviously still need to satisfy the general rules for actively seeking and being available for work.

Many thanks for this. I will let you know what happens when the client tries to claim IBJSA.

Steve