Carer’s Allowance Eligibility: 35 Hours, Earnings Limit, How to Apply

To qualify for Carer’s Allowance, you need to be 16 or over, spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who already receives a qualifying disability benefit, earn no more than £204 a week after allowable deductions, meet UK residence rules, and not be in full-time education. The weekly payment is £86.45 for 2026/27.¹ Every one of those conditions has to be met at the same time, and getting a detail wrong can cost you months of payments or leave you with an overpayment to repay.

Age, Residence, and Education

You must be at least 16. You also need to be ordinarily resident in England or Wales and to have been in England, Scotland, or Wales for at least two of the last three years. Refugees and people with humanitarian protection status don’t have to meet that two-year test. Members of the armed forces posted abroad may still qualify.²

Full-time study rules you out. So does any course of 21 hours a week or more, counting class time and supervised study together. Part-time study below that threshold is fine.²

The 35-Hour Care Rule

You need to spend at least 35 hours a week caring for the same person.² The hours don’t have to be continuous or spread evenly across the week, but they do have to add up. A wide range of tasks counts:

Helping with washing, dressing, eating, or moving around.
Cooking meals and managing medications.
Booking and attending medical appointments.
Supervising the person to keep them safe.
Sorting out their benefits or dealing with their correspondence.

If you stop caring for more than 28 days, or the person you look after goes into hospital or a care home for a stretch, you have to tell the Department for Work and Pensions because your entitlement can be affected.³

The £204 Earnings Limit

For 2026/27, your net earnings must be £204 or less per week after allowable deductions.² This is a personal limit on your income from employment or self-employment. Your partner’s earnings and wider household income don’t count.

Deductions that reduce your earnings figure before it is measured against the £204 limit include income tax, National Insurance contributions, and half of any contributions you make to an occupational or personal pension. If you pay someone to look after the disabled person or a child under 16 while you work, those care costs can also be deducted, up to a maximum of 50% of your net earnings after the other deductions.²

This limit catches more people than expected. Earnings are assessed weekly, so a single week of overtime or a one-off bonus can push you over for that week. One bad week doesn’t disqualify you permanently, but you must report earnings changes promptly. If your income fluctuates near the threshold, check the figure every week rather than assuming you’re still under.

The Person You Care For Must Get a Qualifying Benefit

The number of hours you provide doesn’t matter unless the person you care for already receives one of these payments:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) daily living component, at either the standard or enhanced rate.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) middle or highest rate of the care component.
Attendance Allowance.
Constant Attendance Allowance paid at or above the normal maximum rate alongside Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
Armed Forces Independence Payment.
Child Disability Payment middle or highest rate of the care component.
Adult Disability Payment daily living component, at the standard or enhanced rate.²

If the person you care for is reassessed and loses their qualifying benefit, or has it reduced below the qualifying threshold, your Carer’s Allowance stops. This is one of the most common ways people lose entitlement without noticing. Keep track of when their benefit reviews are due.

Only One Carer Can Claim Per Person

Only one person can be paid a carer benefit for looking after the same individual. If someone else is already claiming Carer’s Allowance (or Carer Support Payment in Scotland) for the person you care for, your application will be refused.⁴ If two people share care, you’ll need to decide between you who claims.

Check the Effect on the Cared-For Person’s Benefits Before You Claim

When you receive Carer’s Allowance, the person you care for will usually lose their severe disability premium, or the equivalent extra severe disability amount paid with Pension Credit. That loss can be worth more than the £86.45 you gain, so in some households the net result of a claim is a reduction in total income. Do the maths before you apply. You can check whether this applies by contacting Jobcentre Plus, your local council, or the Pension Service Helpline.⁵

There’s also an overlap rule with State Pension. If your State Pension equals or exceeds the Carer’s Allowance rate, the Carer’s Allowance payment is reduced to zero. You still hold an underlying entitlement, which preserves the National Insurance credit and can increase Pension Credit.⁵ Claiming can be worthwhile even when you know no cash will land in your account.

Scotland: Carer Support Payment

If you live in Scotland, Carer’s Allowance has been replaced by Carer Support Payment, run by Social Security Scotland. The core eligibility rules match: 16 or over, normally resident in Scotland, at least 35 hours of unpaid care per week, and earnings within the set limit.⁴ The base weekly rate is the same £86.45, and Scotland adds the Scottish Carer Supplement of £11.70 per week, taking the annual total to roughly £5,104 compared with about £4,495 in England and Wales.¹ The Scottish qualifying benefits include Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment.

How to Apply

The quickest route is the online application on GOV.UK. Have these ready:

Your National Insurance number and bank account details.
Employment details, plus recent payslips or your P60 to verify weekly earnings.
The full name, date of birth, address, and National Insurance number of the person you care for.⁶

If you can’t apply online, request a paper form (DS700) from the Carer’s Allowance Unit or download it from GOV.UK.⁷ Online submissions give you an immediate acknowledgement; paper forms take a few extra days to register.

You can ask for your claim to be backdated by up to three months, provided you met all the eligibility conditions during that earlier period. No reason is needed. The backdating question is on the claim form itself, so answer it rather than skipping past it. If approved, you’ll get a lump sum covering the backdated weeks.

Reporting Changes to Keep Your Entitlement

Eligibility isn’t only checked at the start. Once you’re being paid, you must report any change in circumstances straight away.³ The changes that matter most:

Your earnings going above the weekly limit.
Your care hours dropping below 35 a week.
The person you care for going into hospital or a care home for more than 12 weeks.
Stopping care altogether for more than 28 days.

Failing to report can trigger an overpayment, and the DWP will ask for the full amount back. Overpayment debt in Carer’s Allowance has reached £250 million across the system.⁸ On top of repayment, there’s a £50 civil penalty for not reporting a change. In more serious cases, the DWP can impose an administrative penalty of £350 or 50% of the overpayment (whichever is greater), up to a maximum of £5,000. Deliberate fraud can lead to prosecution.³ Earnings drifting above the limit without the carer noticing is the most common trigger, so if your income moves week to week, check the numbers every week.

1
GOV.UK. Benefit and Pension Rates 2026 to 2027
2
GOV.UK. Carer’s Allowance: Eligibility
3
GOV.UK. Carer’s Allowance: Report a Change in Circumstances
4
mygov.scot. Who Can Apply for Carer Benefits
5
GOV.UK. Carer’s Allowance: Effect on Other Benefits
6
GOV.UK. Carer’s Allowance: Make a Claim
7
GOV.UK. Carer’s Allowance Claim Form
8
National Audit Office. Carer’s Allowance Overpayment Debt Reaches £250 Million