Carer’s Allowance

Overview

The Carer’s Allowance may be awarded to a single, married, in civil union, or cohabiting person who is over eighteen (18) years of age and is taking care of a relative, with low dependency, on a full-time basis living within the same household.

What you’ll get

The Carer’s Allowance is paid every four (4) weeks in advance.

If the applicant for a Carer’s Allowance was in employment before applying for the allowance, s/he may be entitled for Social Security Contributions credits.

Further to Social Security Contributions credits, a beneficiary in receipt of the Carer’s Allowance, may also be entitled to pay back-dated Social Security Contributions which are missing from their respective contribution record. The scope of this scheme is to enable applicants either qualify for a contributory pension, or else enhance their current or potential pension payment rate. Click here to read more about this scheme.

Please click here for a Schedule of Benefits Rates.

Eligibility

General eligibility criteria:

The carer is to be a single, married, in civil union, or cohabiting person taking care of a relative (spouse or parent; brother or sister; grandparent; uncle; aunt; father or mother-in-law or brother or sister-in-law) living within the same household as defined in the Social Security Act (Cap. 318.).
The carer is to be under retirement age.
If the carer has reached retirement age he/she can apply for these Allowances if he/she is caring on a full-time and regular basis for his/her parent, brother, sister, grandmother, uncle, aunt, father-in-law or mother-in-law or his/her brother-in-law or sister-in-law and living in the same household of that person. In these cases, the carer is medically assessed by the multi-disciplinary board and must sit for medical board scrutiny on a regular basis (annually).
The provisions of Article 90 of the Social Security Act (Cap. 318.) “Duplicate Rights” apply, wherein a beneficiary cannot be in receipt of two (2) pensions; benefits; assistances or allowances concurrently but to the most beneficial pension; benefit; assistance or allowance.
The application for a Carer’s Allowance is not means tested.
A Multi-Disciplinary Board will decide whether the case falls within the medical parameters for payment of this allowance following an assessment based on the Barthel Index or the Mini-Mental State Examination.
If the carer was in employment before applying for the Carer’s Allowance s/he is entitled to credits of Social Security Contributions if:
- s/he has paid a total of one hundred and fifty-six (156) contributions; and
- s/he has paid or been credited with an average of at least fifteen (15) social security contributions per year since attaining his/her eighteenth (18)^th birthday.
Thanks to the reform in 2017, the means test has been abolished over the past years and the right to Carer’s Allowances for married persons has been granted. This right is also extended to those who are in a civil union or registered cohabitation.
Considering that there may be situations where persons living together may encounter legal restrictions to register their cohabitation, changes have been introduced, so that persons who prove that they have been living together for at least ten (10) years will be considered as cohabiting, thus may qualify for a Carer’s Allowance.
Presently single persons who form a household of their own and are in receipt of Social Assistance will have a deduction in their benefit if they decide to go and live with an elderly relative (as defined in the Social Security Act (Cap. 318.) and qualify for the Carer’s Allowance. This is due to the fact that they are not considered as the person responsible for the household.