Terminal illness reviews for Carer Allowance (CA) adult 009-08060070

For the purposes of CA (adult) a terminal condition is where a person aged 16 years or over is in the final phase of a terminal illness and is not expected to live more than 3 months.

Where a medical practitioner has certified the adult care receiver is terminally ill, they do not have to undergo the Adult Disability Assessment Tool (ADAT) assessment, as they are granted payment automatically, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria.

Adult Terminal Illness reviews are generated 24 months after grant and every 12 months thereafter from the Date of event (DOV) recorded on the care receiver's record.

For current carers and care receivers the duration of the review will change to every 12 months. This date is updated each time the carer is reviewed and is used to set the next review.

Terminal illness reviews for CP adult do not apply to CP (XWP) - Carer Payment (CP) that is paid under grandfathering provisions for ceased Wife Pension carers. However, if a CP (XWP) carer gets CA for an adult who is terminally ill, they will be subject to a CA adult terminal illness review.

If a CP (XWP) carer’s only or last payment level CA is suspended or cancelled or changed to CA HCC only, CP (XWP) will automatically be cancelled. This means a CP (XWP) carer may lose qualification for CP (XWP) if they no longer qualify for payment level CA after completion of a CA adult terminal illness review. For more information see Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment (CP).

The manual review process takes the form of an informal telephone review. If the care receiver is still alive at the 24 month review, it will be necessary to review the carer using the ADAT, as the circumstances of the care receiver's illness may have changed.

The manner in which terminal illness reviews are conducted is important. As the purpose of the review is to determine if the care receiver is still alive, this is obviously a very sensitive issue. Due to this sensitivity, these reviews must be approached as a courtesy call to see how the carer is coping with their caring responsibilities, and to check their circumstances still qualify them for the assistance being received.