MARTIN Lewis has issued an urgent warning to anyone between 16 and 65, as they could be missing out on thousands of pounds.
The consumer expert explained time is running out for millions of unpaid carers in the UK.
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Though caring is a broad term in generally refers to helping someone with everyday tasks such as washing, cooking, cleaning and even shopping.
You are entitled to support if you are caring for someone for at least 20 hours a week.
Millions may be entitled to either carers credit or carers allowance but have just hours to claim for unpaid care given this tax year.
Who qualifies for carer’s allowance?
To qualify, the person you care for must already get one of these benefits:
- Personal independence payment (PIP) – daily living component
- Disability living allowance – the middle or highest care rate
- Attendance allowance
- Constant attendance allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Constant attendance allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a war disablement pension
- Armed forces independence payment
How much will I get?
If you care for someone who is on certain benefits for between 20 to 35 hours a week and you are of working age you could be entitled to carers credit.
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If you care for someone for more than 35 hours a week but you earn less than £139 you can claim carers allowance, which is worth up to £76.75 a week.
You’ll also get National Insurance (NI) credits for each week you are paid.
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These credits are a way of maintaining your NI record when you are not making contributions
This means that you’ll continue to build up qualifying years over time, ensuring that you’re later eligible for state pension payments on retirement.
How do I apply?
Before applying check your state pension forecast as the carer’s credit won’t boost you’re entitlement beyond the maximum level.
Calculate the hours you provide care for and check your eligibility.
To apply you will need to download and complete the digital carer’s credit claim form.
You can get help by calling the carer allowance unit.
If you met the eligibility for carers credit last year 2022 – 2023 you need to make a claim by tomorrow April 5 2024 so you can be backdated.
You can still backdate your claim if the person you are caring for has passed or no longer needs your care.
Time is also running out for, out for eligible Brits to make use of their annual ISA allowance.
An ISA (individual savings account) is a type of savings account where you can save up to £20,000 each year tax-free – and some of them even offer free cash top-ups too.
The tax year ends tomorrow so anyone looking to take advantage of the tax-free savings and bonuses needs to put money into an ISA quickly.
Those on the younger side of the age eligibility need to be warned minimum age at which you open an ISA will soon be rising.
Each year, everyone over 16 gets an ISA allowance, which lets them save their cash tax-free.
But on April 6 this will be rising from 16 to 18, meaning a 17-year-old will be able to open an ISA tomorrow but not on Saturday.
The only exception to this is Virgin Money’s easy-access ISA.
It pays 5.01% and can be opened and managed online, though you can only withdraw three times a year.
Bear in mind as well that the rate drops to 2% from the fourth withdrawal onwards.
Martin says it’s a good idea for 16 and 17-year-olds to open an account ahead of the deadline, even if you’re not likely to max out the £20,000 limit.
You can open an ISA with as little as £1, though each ISA has its own rules about how much you can deposit each year and how much you can get as a bonus.
Can I have more than one ISA?
You can have more than one ISA open at the same time but you will still have a personal ISA tax allowance of £20,000.
That means if you have £20,000 in one ISA and £1,000 in another the extra £1,000 will be taxed.
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From April 6, you will be allowed to subscribe to multiple ISAs of the same type within the same tax year but allowance rules still apply.
Partial transfers of current-year ISA subscriptions will be allowed.
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