Carer's credit 

'Caring' is a broad definition that includes helping someone (be they a family member, spouse, child, or even someone you're not related to) with everyday tasks like washing, cooking and shopping.

There are millions of unpaid carers in the UK, all of them unsung heroes. If you're one of them, you may be due Government help, but you need to be caring for someone for AT LEAST 20 hours per week and that person also needs to meet certain criteria:

• Caring for someone for between 20 and 35 hours a week? If you're of working age and providing unpaid care, you could qualify for carer's credit. While this doesn't entitle you to any financial help now, it can boost your state pension by £1,000s in the future. Keep reading this guide for info on how carer's credit works, who's eligible and how to apply.
  
  
• Caring for someone for more than 35 hours a week? Provided the person you care for receives EITHER attendance allowance, OR the disability living allowance care component at either the middle or higher rate, OR the daily living component of personal independence payment, you could be eligible for both carer's credit AND a carer's allowance payment of £76.75 a week. If you do get carer's allowance, you don't need to claim carer's credit, as it's given automatically.
  
  For more info on carer's allowance, see our benefits guide.
  

To get carer's credit you need to fulfil these three criteria:

1. You must be aged between 16 and state pension age. The current state pension age is 66 for men and women, but yours may be different depending on your age, so check the Government's state pension age calculator.
   
   
2. You must look after one or more people for at least 20 hours a week. You don't get more 'credits' if you look after more than one person. You can still get carer's credit if you have breaks from caring (up to 12 weeks in a row), such as if you take a holiday, go into hospital, or the person you're caring for goes into hospital.
   
   
3. The person you're caring for must also receive at least one of these benefits:
   - Disability living allowance (care component at the middle or highest rate)
   - Attendance allowance
   - Constant attendance allowance
   - Personal independence payment (the daily living part at the standard or enhanced rate)
   - The armed forces independence payment
   - Child disability payment at the middle or highest rate
   - Adult Disability Payment daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate.
   
   If the person you care(d) for doesn't get one of the above, you could still be eligible for carer's credit – fill in the ‘Care Certificate’ part of the application form and get a health or social care professional to sign it.