In order to qualify for Carers Allowance, the applicant needs to show that care is provided for at least 35 hours of every week. This means that the hours cannot be averaged out over a number of weeks.
For example, CA will not be awarded if care is provided for fifty hours one week but only for twenty five hours the following week.
The 35 hours must be spent caring for one individual. Carers' allowance will not be awarded if both parents (for example) are being cared for at thirty hours per week each.
Parents who care for children only during the school holidays will qualify for those weeks when the child is at home.
For the purposes of deciding carers' allowance the week is considered to start from Sunday morning and to end on Saturday night.
Time spent preparing for the severely disabled person's visit or clearing up after they have left is classed as time spent caring. Transporting the person to and from where they normally reside also counts as part of the thity five hours.
