Carer Support Payment and other carer support

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This advice applies in Scotland only.

Carer Support Payment is the main benefit for carers in Scotland, where it has replaced Carer’s Allowance. People who receive this benefit also receive an additional payment called the Scottish Carer Supplement. If you care for more than one disabled person, you may qualify for an extra payment called the Carer Additional Person Payment.

What is Carer Support Payment?

Carer Support Payment is the main benefit for carers in Scotland. You might get Carer Support Payment if you provide at least 35 hours a week’s care to someone receiving particular disability benefits. See below.

The Scottish government has introduced Carer Support Payment to replace Carer’s Allowance in Scotland. It is no longer possible to make a new claim for Carer’s Allowance in Scotland; you will need to claim Carer Support Payment instead. In addition, all existing Carer’s Allowance claimants in Scotland have been transferred onto Carer Support Payment.

Who qualifies for Carer Support Payment?

You qualify if you provide at least 35 hours of care per week to someone who gets one of the following “qualifying disability benefits”:

The care component of either Child Disability Payment at the middle or highest rate.
Either rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment.
Armed Forces Independent Payment.
Attendance allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment at any rate. These are benefits for disabled older people.

Carer Support Payment is not means-tested. It does not matter what savings you have. Most forms of income are ignored (for example, any occupational or personal pension you receive).

You must meet certain tests linked to your immigration status and the length of time you have spent in the UK.

If you share the care of a disabled child with someone else, and you each provide at least 35 hours a week care, only one of you can get Carer Support Payment / Carer’s Allowance / the Universal Credit carer element for that child.

There are additional tests if you work or study – see below. The Carer Support Payment rules are very similar to the rules that apply in Carer’s Allowance. However, there are more generous rules allowing students in some forms of education to qualify for Carer Support Payment, even though they may have been refused Carer’s Allowance.

Can I work and still get Carer Support Payment?

If you work, you must not earn more than the “earnings limit” of £196 per week.

In calculating your earnings for Carer Support Payment purposes, you can make certain deductions from your gross wages. This not only includes any tax and national insurance you pay, but also:

50% of any contributions you make into a works or personal pension scheme. For example, if you pay £20 per week into a pension scheme, £10 will be deducted from your weekly earnings calculation.
Any alternative care costs you have that enable you to work. This covers not only any costs you have for your disabled child (regardless of their age), but also any childcare costs for other children you have aged under 16. Care costs count so long as you are not paying a close relative. There is no requirement that you pay a registered childcare provider. The maximum you can deduct for alternative care costs is half of your earnings.
Any expenses you have that are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in carrying out your work. For example, if you have to buy tools or specialist clothing or you have to travel between work sites (travel between work and home does not count).

If your earnings after these deductions are £196 per week or less, you can keep all of your Carer Support Payment. If your earnings after these deductions are even 1p more, you will lose all of your Carer Support Payment.

Can I study and still get Carer Support Payment?

Unlike Carer’s Allowance, many carers in full-time education will be able to claim Carer Support Payment. This includes:

Anyone studying less than 21 hours a week regardless of their age or the type of education.
Anyone aged 20 or above in more than 21 hours a week study.
Anyone 16-19 studying 21 hours or more a week and who is in advanced education.

However, a carer aged 16-19 in non-advanced education that involves more than 21 hours a week study will not normally be able to get Carer Support Payment. They may get a young carer grant instead.

Some 16-19 year olds in non-advanced education involving more than 21 hours a week study can claim Carer Support Payment. This will apply if you would be able to get Universal Credit while in education (except if the reason you would qualify is because you are waiting to return to your course after taking time out due to illness or caring responsibilities).

16-19 year old students in non-advanced education include students without parental support, students who are responsible for a child of their own and some disabled students – for example a disabled student who has went through a work capability assessment and established a limited capability for work before they started their course. Contact our free helpline for more information.

How much Carer Support Payment will I get?

Carer Support Payment is £83.30 a week.

Alongside this it is also possible to receive two additional payments. Everyone who gets Carer Support Payment should also get an additional weekly payment called the Scottish Carer Supplement. If you care for more than one disabled person, you may be able to receive a Carer Additional Person Payment.

How do I claim Carer Support Payment?

New claimants will be able to apply online via mygov.scot or by phoning Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222. Alternatively, you can download a paper form via mygov.scot or phone Social Security Scotland and ask for a paper form with a prepaid envelope.

Existing Carer’s Allowance claimants will transfer automatically without any need to make a claim.

Backdating Carer Support Payment

Your payment can be backdated for (i.e. paid from) up to 13 weeks before your date of claim. You must have met all the qualifying rules during this time. You will need to ask Social Security Scotland for backdating.

Your claim can be backdated for more than 13 weeks if:

The person you care for has only recently been awarded a qualifying disability benefit.
You claim Carer Support Payment within 13 weeks of the decision awarding them that disability benefit.

In this situation, your award can be backdated to the date that their disability benefit was backdated to. Again, you must have met all the other Carer Support Payment rules during that period.

You may also be able to backdate your payments for more than 13 weeks if you qualify for Carer Support Payment, but would not have been eligible for Carer’s Allowance. (i.e. because you are in certain types of education or you have been in the UK for fewer than 104 of the previous 156 weeks.) Under special rules that apply in such cases, your award can be backdated to the most recent of:

19 November 2023.
The date you first met Carer Support Payment qualifiying rules.

This special rule only applies if you would have been eligible for Carer Support Payment sooner, but could not apply because it had not yet been introduced in your area. To get this extended backdating, you need to have claimed Carer Support Payment within 13 weeks of it being introduced in your local area.

Example

A carer in Angus has been in full-time advanced education and unable to get Carer’s Allowance. They may be able to get their Carer Support Payment backdated to 19 November 2023, so long as they made their claim for Carer Support Payment by 22 September 2024. This date (22 September 2024) is 13 weeks after 24 June 2024, when Carer Support Allowance was first introduced in Angus.

Phone Social Security Scotland to ask about backdating if you think these rules should apply to you.

How does Carer Support Payment affect other benefits?

Means-tested benefits

Carer Support Payment counts as income when calculating means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit and is deducted from your Universal Credit award. But you’ll get a carer element of £201.68 per month in Universal Credit as part of that means-tested benefit.

Getting Carer Support Payment also means you can get the Scottish Carer Supplement. It may allow you to access a Carer Additional Person Payment. Both of these extra payments are ignored by Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits, such as Council Tax support.

Non-means-tested benefits

You cannot get Carer Support Payment at the same time as certain other non-means-tested benefits. This includes contributory Employment and Support Allowance and State Pension.

It is still worthwhile making a claim for Carer Support Payment in these circumstances. By making a claim, you’ll establish an “underlying entitlement” to Carer Support Payment. This means you’ll count as a carer for any means-tested benefits you receive and get the carer premium (see above).

State Pension

Carer Support Payment can help protect your right to a retirement State Pension. This is because you will receive Class 1 National Insurance credits for every week it is in payment.

Benefits of the person I’m looking after

So long as you are claiming as the carer of a dependent child, a claim for Carer Support Payment will not have any impact on the benefits that they receive.

Claiming Carer Support Payment for a disabled adult is also not normally a problem. However, if they are a disabled adult who receives a payment known as the “severe disability premium” as part of a means-tested benefit claim, they will end up worse off if you get Carer Support Payment for them.

Scottish Carer Supplement

From 15 March 2026, anyone who gets Carer Support Payment also receives an additional payment called the Scottish Carer Supplement. This replaces Carer’s Allowance Supplement – a lump sum payment made every six months.

Rather than getting a lump sum, anyone on Carer Support Payment will now receive an additional weekly payment of £11.29 (£11.70 from April) instead. This works out the same amount as the previously-paid lump sums, only it’s now spread out as a weekly amount.

You need to be in receipt of the Carer Support Payment to get the Scottish Carer Supplement. If you only receive the Universal Credit carer element but haven’t claimed Carer Support Payment, you will not qualify. You will also not qualify for the Scottish Carer Supplement with only an “underlying entitlement” to Carer Support Payment. This means you claimed Carer Support Payment but don’t receive payments because you get other benefits instead. (Examples include Employment and Support Allowance or State Retirement Pension).

As long as you are living in Scotland and receiving Carer Support Payment on 15 March 2026, you will receive the supplement automatically without needing to make any application.

Scottish Carer Supplement is ignored as income for Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits such as Council Tax reduction.

Carer Additional Person Payment

From 15 March 2026, the Scottish government has introduced a new payment known as the Carer Additional Person Payment. This is for those who get Carer Support Payment and who provide care to more than one disabled person.

The amount you get will depend on how many additional disabled people you provide at least 20 hours’ care to each week. You will receive £10 per week (£10.40 from April) for each extra disabled person you care for in addition to your main caring role. The cared-for disabled person must be getting a qualifying disability benefit.

You need to be getting Carer Support Payment to be able to apply for the new payment. You won’t qualify for payments with only an “underlying entitlement” to Carer Support Payment.

Any payment you receive is ignored as income for Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits such as Council Tax reduction.

There is no set limit on the number of additional disabled people you can claim a payment for. However, you won’t get a Carer Additional Person Payment for a disabled person if someone else already does. You can receive a payment for a disabled person despite someone already getting Carer Support Payment as their main carer.

Example of Carer Additional Person Payments

Roddy and Fatima have two severely disabled children, both on Child Disability Payment at the highest rate for personal care. Roddy gets Carer Support Payment because he provides more than 35 hours care to their disabled son Adam. Fatima gets Carer Support Payment as their daughter Anita’s main carer.

As well as looking after Anita, Fatima provides more than 20 hours a week’s care to Adam. She also provides more than 20 hours’ care to her mother, who gets the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment. In addition to being Adam’s main carer, Roddy spends more than 20 hours a week helping to look after Anita.

Fatima is entitled to a Carer Additional Person Payment of £20 for two disabled people (Adam and her mum). Roddy gets a payment of £10 as he cares for one additional disabled person (Anita).

How to apply for a Carer Additional Person Payment

If you already get Carer Support Payment, initially you can complete a “CAPP only” claim form (paper or digital). To access this, call Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 or go online at mygov.scot.

This form is available to existing claimants for six months only. After that, you will need to report a change of circumstances to Social Security Scotland if you want to claim for the first time, or add or remove an additional disabled person.

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