Coding a one-off absence for Carer Payment (CP)/Carer Allowance (CA) when the care receiver is absent 009-06040010

A regular absence is where a carer advises that a care receiver will be absent from the home for the same day/s every week for a certain period of time. A one-off absence, by contrast, would occur where the care receiver is entering respite care for 1 period.

Regular absences from care are assessed and coded differently from one-off absences.

For respite and hospitalisation purposes, a 'day' must include an overnight stay - that is, a whole 24 hour period, from 12am to 12am (midnight to midnight). Part days do not count in the calculation of absences for CP and CA.

This principle also applies when calculating absences where a CA child is away from the care situation for education, training and treatment (ETT).

Respite can also be used to remain on payment when working more than the allowed limit. Carers receiving CP can continue receiving payment if they work for 100 hours in a 4 week period. If they work more than 100 hours, they may use respite even though they have not been absent for a whole 24 hour period.

See Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) carer undertakes paid employment, self-employment, voluntary work, education or training activities.

Different assessment and coding is also required when the carer is absent.

From 20 March 2025 Carer Payment carers can participate in paid work, including self-employment, for 100 hours in a 4-week period. This does not include travel time to and from work. See Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) carer undertakes paid employment, self-employment, voluntary work, education or training activities.

If the carer temporarily works more than 100 hours in a 4-week period they can use single days of respite so their Carer Payment does not stop.

One day of respite is used for every 8 hours, or part thereof, the carer exceeds 100 hours. For example, if the carer exceeds the limit by 11 hours they will need to use 2 days of respite. Note: the 100 hour provision cannot be extended by using carers respite TCC entitlement.

The 25 hour rule could not be extended by using a carer’s respite entitlement. For example, if a carer was absent from the caring situation for 6 hours per day due to work, they would reach 24 hours by Thursday (assuming the work was Monday to Friday). They could not then declare the Friday to be their respite day, because this would mean they were absent in excess of 25 hours per week. However, if they exceeded 25 hours they could use a whole week/ 7 days of respite if they had enough available days. For more information, see Carer Payment (CP) and Carer Allowance (CA) carer undertakes paid employment, self-employment, voluntary work, education or training activities.

If the care receiver or carer are absent due to being overseas, the rules for respite and portability may differ between CP and CA depending on the situation. Respite and portability rules must be considered together. For more information, see Carer Payment (CP)/Carer Allowance (CA) interaction of portability and temporary cessation of carer (respite) rules.

Note: if a child care receiver is in the care of the other parent when the carer parent is absent or overseas, this absence will be counted for CP only and will not be counted for CA. If the child is in the care of either parent, CA is payable and respite provisions do not apply.

If the care receiver is imprisoned, this is also considered an absence and the carer's qualification for payment may continue. CP and/or CA will then auto cancel when the 63 days per calendar year respite limit is reached.

If there is more than 1 carer, and 1 carer receive CP and the other CA, the absence must be recorded against both carers when the care receiver is absent from both carers.

Regular and one-off absence rules and the 100 hour work limit do not apply to CP (XWP) - Carer Payment (CP) that is paid under grandfathering provisions for ceased Wife Pension carers. However, regular and one-off absences still apply to CA as normal.

If a CP (XWP) carer’s only or last payment level CA is suspended or cancelled for any reason, or reduced to a CA HCC only, CP (XWP) will automatically be cancelled. A carer loses their qualification for CP (XWP) permanently if payment level CA is not reinstated without a gap in entitlement.

Absence codes that only relate to CP should not be recorded for any respite days for a carer receiving CP (XWP).

For more information see Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment (CP)