carers claiming Income support

I have a client who cares for both her elderly mother and her son (who has PTSD etc. and is in receipt of DLA), She is claiming JSA and so is looking for work. She is receiving carers allowance and so could claim Income Support instead. Is this time limited? The CPAG book indicates that she could claim IS as the person she cares for gets DLA but this would be for only a certain no of weeks. However, since she gets CA, would this time restriction still apply? Thanks

Hello
She can claim IS if she is getting Carers Allowance. The CA will be taken off the IS but she will get the carers premium instead with the IS.  She might be better off finding work though if she has time.
No time limit that I know of!
Nicolette

There is no time limit for an Income Support top up for someone claiming Carers Allowance as long as their income is low enough and they continue to meet the criteris for CA.
As long as the person cared for is in receipt of AA or MRC/HRC DLA , the carer doesnt “earn” more than £100 per week and there is 35 hours per week of care then no problem with Carers Allowance.
Any earnings will of course be taken into account for Income support. I have several clients who work 16 HPW minimum wage (£94.88) and still get Carers Allowance as well.
If the person cared for passes away then carers allowance payable for 8 weeks , and therefore Income support also will be paid if applicable for that period.