Increased Carer’s Allowance

Overview

The Increased 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 high dependency, living within the same household on a full-time basis.

What you’ll get

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

If the applicant for an Increased 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 Increased 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 can be either a single, married, in civil union, or cohabiting person and is solely taking care of a relative (spouse/partner or parent; brother; 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 an Increased Carer’s Allowance is not means tested.
A Multi-Disciplinary Board will decide whether the case in question falls within the medical parameters for payment of this allowance following an assessment based on the Barthel Index or the Mini-Mental State Examination.
A Patient over eighty-five (85) years will not be reviewed by the Medical Board and will be automatically entitled for the Increased Carers Allowance.
If the carer was in employment before applying for the Increased 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.
Considering that there may be situations where persons living together may encounter legal restrictions to register their cohabitation, changes will be 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 an Increased Carer’s Allowance.