DWP extra £270 monthly payment and Christmas bonus you may not know you're eligible to claim

If you're a carer, you may be entitled to an extra cash payment as well as a Christmas bonus.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can award carers an additional £69.70 a week - equal to £278 a month, or over £3,000 a year. To qualify for Carer's Allowance, the claimant must be at least 16 years old and should be spending a minimum of 35 hours a week caring for someone.

The claimant must also live in England, Scotland, or Wales and have earnings of £132 a week or less, after tax, National Insurance and expenses. Despite this, Carer's Allowance is not dependent on National Insurance contributions and is therefore not means-tested, which means it is not based on a claimant's personal income or savings.

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However, at the same time, Carer's Allowance is a taxable payment and can therefore affect other benefits you may be claiming or planning to claim, reports the Manchester Evening News. The person being cared for must also claim at least one of the following for their carer to receive the payment:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Disability Living Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• Disablement Benefit Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Child/Adult Disability Payment

If a person shares caring duties with someone else, only one of the carers can claim the Allowance. Additionally, Carer's Allowance can only be claimed once, even if the claimant is caring for more than one person.

The Government will also provide a Christmas bonus to those claiming Carer's Allowance. As a one-off payment, recipients will receive £10 - the bonus will not affect any other benefits.

However, the DWP is yet to confirm the exact date when the payment will be made, but it generally lands in peoples' bank accounts in the first week of December. To apply for Carer's Allowance, go to the GOV.UK website or phone the Carer's Allowance Unit for a claim form on 0800 731 0297.

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