Benefit Entitlements for a “Non Looked After” Child

You may still receive some financial support from your Local Authority because you are a kinship carer

For people caring for a “non looked after” child there are three issues that arise in relation to other benefits:

  1. Who can claim
  2. Some delays in getting benefits sorted out
  3. How your Local Authority payments (if being made) affect your benefit/tax credits
The Benefit What it means Contact details of the awarding body
Kinship Care Allowance This is currently paid to kinship carers of non-looked after children who were previously “looked after”, were placed with the kinship carer with the involvement of social work, or are at risk of becoming “looked after” and are now subject to a Kinship Care Order under Section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (sometimes referred to as a Residence Order). This should be paid at the same rate as the local fostering allowance, with any entitlement to Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit deducted. The Local Authority should not deduct from the kinship care payment any disability element paid as part of Child Tax Credit payments for a child with a disability. Local Authority
Child Benefit (CB)
  • Only one person can get CB for a particular child. If the child is living with you full-time, you are likely to be entitled to CB.
  • If someone else has been getting CB for the child when you make your claim, you will normally not become entitled to CB until three weeks after you make your claim.
  • Make your claim for CB as soon as possible as some cases are taking many months to process.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of CB you receive.
 HM Revenue and Customs
PO Box 1
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE88 1AA
T: 0300 200 3100
Child Tax Credit (CTC)
  • Only one person can get CTC for a particular child. If the child is living with you, you are likely to be entitled to CTC.
  • The amount you receive is dependent on your income and other circumstances.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of CTC you receive.
 HM Revenue and Customs (Tax Credits)
Tax Credit Office
Preston
PR1 4AT
www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits
T: 0345 300 3900
Working Tax Credit (WTC)
  • Eligibility and amount of benefit are dependent on your income, the number of hours you work and other circumstances.
  • If you are responsible for a child, your WTC payments might increase if you have to pay childcare costs.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of WTC you receive.
 HM Revenue and Customs (Tax Credits)
Tax Credit Office
Preston
PR1 4AT
www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits
T: 0345 300 3900
Income Support and Income based JSA (IS/IBJSA)
  • Eligibility will depend on your income, savings and other circumstances. You may claim IS as a lone parent if you are caring for a child under five.
  • In almost all situations payments of Kinship Care Allowance from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of IS/IBJSA you receive: the exception is if you are still getting amounts in your IS/IBJSA for a child and the Local Authority is paying you Kinship Care Allowance from S50 of the Children Act 1975. In this case, your Kinship Care Allowance will reduce your IS/IBJSA payments.

    Seek advice about claiming CTC instead of IS/IBJSA as you might be better off.

 Department for Work & Pensions
T: 0800 055 6688
Text: 0800 023 4888
www.dwp.gov.uk
Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction (HB/CTR)
  • Eligibility will depend on your income, savings and other
    circumstances such as the number of children you are caring for.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of HB/CTR you receive.
 Local Authority
Pension credit (PC) Local Authority payments will not affect your PC. The Pension Service
www.pensionservice.gov.uk
T: 0800 99 1234
Text: 0800 169 0133
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • If a child has a disability and is entitled to DLA, payments are made to the child’s appointee. A kinship carer can apply to be the appointee for a child they care for.
  • The amount of DLA paid depends on the nature of the disability.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of DLA received.

The kinship carer may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance if the child gets DLA care component middle or highest rate.

 Benefit Enquiry Line
T: 0345 712 3456
Text: 0345 722 4433
Employment & Support Allowance
  • Eligibility will depend on your income, savings, health and other circumstances.
  • Kinship Care Allowance payments from the Local Authority will not affect the amount of ESA you receive.
 Department for Work & Pensions
T: 0800 055 6688
Text: 0800 023 4888
www.dwp.gov.uk
Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF)
  • You may be able to claim for emergency or particular needs through a crisis grant or a community care grant.
 Local Authority

 

We advise that you always check your local CAB office and/or Local Authority for advice

You should now read “Universal Credit”…
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