Claiming IS as a carer without affecting sisters CA claim

Hi - I am hoping someone can help me.  I want to find out if it is wise for my client to put in a claim for IS as a carer.  I can’t find an answer in regs or case law and IS are just telling me to put in a claim and see what happens.  My client claims JSA at the moment but is struggling with the conditionality due to mental health issues and I am reluctant to go down the ESA route if she can get IS instead.  She cares for her mum, who gets DLA HR mob and MR care, and I am sure my client would meet the ‘regular and substantial’ care criteria - I have seen R (IS) 8/02.  However her sister claims CA for looking after their mum, with a top-up of IS.  My client is studying part-time but she gets DLA LR mob and MR care herself so should be able to claim IS.  I don’t want to put in a claim yet because I am concerned that either the CA for the sister might be affected, or that any IS my client gets would be reduced by notional CA.  Also, if my client puts in a claim for IS and it is turned down, would she automatically be migrated to ESA assessment rate with no gap in claim?  I hope I have explained things clearly enough to get through the effects of Christmas parties!

To answer your first question : She cannot claim IS as a carer as she is not the one receiving the carers allowance.
If she claimed IS for that reason it would take about 6 weeks to process and be refused anyway, which would be a waste of everyones time (and benefit money!)
You cannot have 2 people claiming Carers Allowance for the same person, as you state her sister already has a Carers allowance claim in place for her mother. If , as you say, your client cares for her mother then what the hell is her sister getting Carers allowance for?
One route may be that her sister can close the CA claim for her mother and then claim CA for caring for your client instead, as your client gets MRC. That will then allow your client to claim CA for her mother. She should then claim IS top up of £42.95 pw to top up her applicable amount to the £98.50 she needs (assumiong she is over 24,single and has no other income/savings)
Bear in mind if your client gets an SDP she will lose it if CA is claimed for her.

Unfortunately this is what the call centre will say when you call to claim Income Support as a carer if another carer is in receipt of Carers Allowance.  They get confused because although it is correct that only one person can claim Carers Allowance this does not mean that only one carer can claim a benefit as a carer.  Recent case involved both call centre and jobcentre trying to dissuade my client from taking this action.  DMG Volume 4 Chapter 20, Paragraph 20117 helped to change their minds. It states that more than one person may be able to satisfy the carer provision, for Income Support purposes, at any given time.  Your client can claim Income Support as a carer even if someone else is claiming Carers allowance for claiming for the same person. 

Shaun

Have a look at the DMG Vol 4. 20116 - 20119.  Might work for you. No claim for CA required, but carer must be able to demonstrate that carer is “regularly and substantially caring”. More than one person can be a carer via this route. There would need to be clear cut evidence of the caring responsibilities, times, etc.

If it was me, I would go with Benefitsadvisors’s approach on the basis that otherwise, by the time you’ve argued the toss with the contact centre and local BDC, the client will have probably spent a significant time with no income other than her DLA. In addition, your client won’t receive the CP as part of her IS unless she has an entitlement to CA.

Thanks for all your input and the DMG info.  It looks like my client may be able to claim IS as a carer but I still need to check that her IS won’t be reduced by notional CA.

I dont see the problem in having her IS reduced by £55.55 per week Carers coming in. They will add £31 per week carers premium to her IS anyway, which means she wont lose her passported benefits.