Carer's Allowance Calculator

Carer's Allowance is the main state benefit for unpaid carers. For 2026/27 it pays £86.45 per week (£4,495.40 per year). To qualify you must care for someone for at least 35 hours per week who receives a qualifying disability benefit, meaning PIP Daily Living at either rate, Attendance Allowance, or the DLA care component at the middle or highest rate. Payment arrives weekly or every 4 weeks by bank transfer, and it counts as taxable income for HMRC even though no National Insurance is charged on it.

There is a weekly net earnings limit of £204. After deducting income tax, NI and 50% of your pension contributions, your net weekly earnings must not exceed this amount. If you earn more in any given week, Carer's Allowance is not payable for that week. Paying someone other than a close relative to look after the person you care for, or your children, while you are at work also comes off the figure, up to half of your net earnings, as do allowable business expenses if you are self-employed.

The limit behaves as a cliff edge rather than a taper. Net earnings of £205 in a single week cost you the whole £86.45 for that week, which is why carers working close to the line often divert pay into a pension, reducing net earnings and picking up tax relief at the same time. Both figures moved in April 2026, the payment rising from £83.30 to £86.45 a week and the earnings limit from £196 to £204, so older guidance quoting the previous numbers will mislead you. The official figures sit at gov.uk/carers-allowance.

Claiming Carer's Allowance also entitles you to the Carer Element in Universal Credit (£209.34/month in 2026/27). Pensioners meet a complication here. The full State Pension of £241.30 a week in 2026/27 is well above the £86.45 rate, so under the overlapping benefits rule the allowance is not paid as separate cash. What you hold instead is 'underlying entitlement', which pays nothing directly but feeds into Pension Credit, Council Tax Reduction and other means-tested calculations. That is the reason to apply even when your State Pension already exceeds the allowance.

Carers who fall outside the rules have a second route. If you provide 20 or more hours of care a week but the person you look after does not receive a qualifying benefit, Carer's Credit gives you free Class 3 National Insurance credits that protect your own State Pension record. Apply on form CC1 through gov.uk/carers-credit, and the claim can be backdated by up to 1 tax year. It is one of the most commonly missed entitlements, and the cost of missing it builds up across a working life.

Caring opens up support beyond the payment itself. A household made up of one adult plus a disabled person qualifies for a 25% Council Tax discount. The Carer's Leave Act 2023 gave employees the right to 1 week of unpaid leave a year from April 2024. You can ask the council for a free Carer's Assessment, which sometimes releases respite or replacement care funding, and carers are eligible for a free flu vaccine. A prescription prepayment certificate costs £32.05 for 3 months or £114.50 for the year. Where the cared-for person's needs are mainly medical, an NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment is worth pursuing, and Carer's Allowance continues for 8 weeks after their death.