CARER'S ALLOWANCE

What is Carer's Allowance?

If you spend at least 35 hours per week caring for someone with an illness, disability or care need, you may be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

Carer’s Allowance is a weekly allowance you can get if you look after a disabled person who is getting either Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance or the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The current weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance is £169.40 (2025/2026).


Who can claim Carer’s Allowance? 

You may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance if all the following apply:

  • You care for someone for at least 35 hours per week
  • You are aged 16 or over
  • You do not earn more than £210 per week after certain deductions including national insurance, tax, and certain expenses
  • You are not in full-time education of more than 21 hours per week
  • The person you care for receives a disability benefit (see below)
  • You live in the Isle of Man, and have lived in the Isle of Man or the United Kingdom or at least 104 weeks (2 years) out of the 156 weeks (3 years) before the date on which you first satisfy all the other rules for Carer’s Allowance

 

What kind of disability benefit must the person I’m caring for be receiving?

The person you care for must receive one of the following:

  • Attendance Allowance (at the higher or lower rate)
  • The middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) paid with an industrial injuries or war disablement pension.

The person you care for may be an adult or a child. It doesn’t matter whether you are related to them or whether you live at the same address as them.

If someone else also helps to look after the disabled person only one of you is entitled to Carer’s Allowance.

If you care for more than one person you can only get one amount of Carer’s Allowance.

If the person you care for dies, Carer’s Allowance will continue to be paid to you for a period of 8 weeks following the date of their death.

 

Carer’s Allowance and State Pension

If you are receiving State Pension which is worth more than Carer’s Allowance, you won’t be paid Carer’s Allowance. However, if your State Pension is worth less than Carer’s Allowance, you will get the difference between them.


Can I claim Carer’s Allowance if I receive any other benefits?

You cannot get any Carer’s Allowance if you get the same amount or more from one of these benefits or allowances:

  • State Pension
  • A widow’s benefit or War Widow’s Pension
  • Industrial Death Benefit
  • Incapacity Benefit
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
  • Unemployability Supplement paid with Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or War Disablement
  • Pension
  • Maternity Allowance
  • A training allowance

If the benefit or allowance you get is less than Carer’s Allowance, you will get the difference to make your total benefit up to the standard weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance.

 

How to claim Carer’s Allowance

To claim Carer’s Allowance you will need to complete a Carer’s Allowance claim form (CA1).

This can be found on the Gov.im website, or you can contact the Disability Benefits Team.


Disability Benefits Team

Markwell House

Market Street

Douglas

IM1 2RZ

Telephone: 01624 685656

Email: disabilitybenefits@gov.im

You should claim Carer’s Allowance as soon as you satisfy the qualifying conditions.

You should also claim if the person you care for is awaiting the outcome of a claim to Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance.