The DWP has announced the introduction of two temporary carer's allowance easements in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Both are designed to “help unpaid carers through the current emergency”.
The two new easements mean that:
- carers will be able to continue to claim carer’s allowance if they have a temporary break in caring, because they or the person they care for gets coronavirus, or if they have to isolate because of it; and
- the provision of emotional support to a disabled person will now count towards the carer’s allowance threshold of 35 hours of care a week.
For more information, see the DWP's Touchbase: Coronavirus Special available from gov.uk