Payments

When you move from Carer’s Allowance to Carer Support Payment, you’ll keep getting the same amount.

Before you move to Carer Support Payment, Social Security Scotland will write to tell you how your payments will work and when you’ll get them.

If you’re paid Carer’s Allowance every 4 weeks

Your first Carer Support Payment will be 5 weeks after your last payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). But you will not lose out on any money. You’ll still be paid for every week you provide care.

This is because DWP and Social Security Scotland pay in slightly different ways:

• DWP pays you for the 3 previous weeks, plus 1 week in advance
• Social Security Scotland will pay you for the previous 4 weeks

There’ll be 5 weeks between your last DWP payment and your first Social Security Scotland payment. Because DWP pays you for the previous 3 weeks and 1 week in advance, they’ll have already paid you for the first of those 5 weeks. And the first payment you get from Social Security Scotland will cover the last 4 weeks of those 5 weeks.

After this first payment from Social Security Scotland, you’ll be paid every 4 weeks.

If you’re concerned about waiting an extra week for your first payment, you can ask to be paid Carer Support Payment every week instead. This means there’ll be no gap in your payments. Social Security Scotland will send you a letter saying how you can ask to be paid weekly.

If you ask to get Carer Support Payment every week, you will not be able to change back to getting paid every 4 weeks.

If you’re paid Carer’s Allowance every week

If you’re paid Carer’s Allowance every week, you’ll get Carer Support Payment every week. It’s always paid 1 week in advance.

How you’re paid

Social Security Scotland will pay your Carer Support Payment the same way as you get your Carer’s Allowance. This may be into a bank account or a different way of paying you’ve agreed with DWP.

What else you can get

If you get Carer’s Allowance Supplement, you’ll still get payments twice a year.

You'll also get National Insurance credits – learn more at GOV.UK.

And you may get Christmas Bonus – learn more at GOV.UK.

You do not need to apply for any of these.