Two numbers govern Carer’s Allowance, and both moved this April. The weekly payment is the one people look up. The earnings limit is the one that decides whether they receive anything at all.
The current rate, and what it was before
Carer’s Allowance is £86.45 a week for the 2026 to 2027 year. Last year it was £83.30. That is £3.15 a week more, or £163.80 across a full year, which is the kind of increase that matters to a household counting in weeks rather than percentages.
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly rate | £83.30 | £86.45 | +£3.15 |
| Earnings limit (weekly, net) | £196.00 | £204.00 | +£8.00 |
Sources: the current figures from GOV.UK, Carer's Allowance and GOV.UK eligibility, Carer's Allowance: eligibility, both checked 9 September 2026; the previous year’s from the benefit and pension rates 2025 to 2026 document.
The earnings limit rose faster than the payment
The limit went from £196 to £204 (Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 (PDF), checked 10 September 2026), an £8 rise against £3.15 on the benefit itself. In proportion the limit moved further, and for anyone working alongside caring that is the more consequential number, because crossing it stops the payment outright.
A carer earning close to the old ceiling may now qualify where they did not last year, without anything about their work having changed. That is a quiet consequence of uprating that nobody writes to tell you about.
It is worth rechecking each April for that reason, particularly if a claim was refused on earnings before. The how much page covers which deductions come off before the limit is tested.
When the rates change
Both figures are uprated each April, and the new rates appear in the government’s annual benefit and pension rates document months before they take effect. So a rate quoted in the winter may well be the one about to be replaced rather than the one in force.
The 2026/27 document was published on 27 November 2025 and confirmed on 16 February 2026 (Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027, Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027, checked 1 November 2026). We re-check this page at each April uprating, and the date at the top of it is the date we last confirmed the figures rather than the date the page was written.
Scotland pays Carer Support Payment instead
Scotland replaced Carer’s Allowance with Carer Support Payment, run by Social Security Scotland. If you live there, the rates on this page describe a benefit you do not claim, and the figures to check are the Scottish ones published separately by Social Security Scotland.
The headline rate matches at £86.45, but the total does not. mygov.scot states Social Security Scotland adds a Scottish Carer Supplement of £11.70 a week automatically, and a Carer Additional Person Payment of £10.40 a week for each further person cared for (mygov.scot, https: //www.mygov.scot/carer-support-payment, checked 1 November 2026). A Scottish carer of one person receives £98.15 a week.
The rate is not the whole sum
An uprating to £86.45 is a gain only where the household keeps it. A claim can end the severe disability addition worth £86.05 a week (GOV.UK, Pension Credit: what you'll get, checked 1 November 2026) to the person you care for, and that figure was uprated too, so the two continue to track each other closely.
Our Carer’s Allowance guide sets out when the arithmetic favours claiming and when it is worth taking advice first.
Knowing the rate is not the same as knowing whether a claim is worth making. Our see what you can claim tool takes three questions and gives the answer before it asks anything of you.