advise please

Hi Could any please advise. I do not understand the benefits system at all.
My son has a severe mental illness and has had it for 10 years after a recent episode it appears I need to stop working and be around for him, I have always been his main carer and we receive no help from anywhere he has dla at full care rate and lower mobility he has managed to get a 16 hour week job and claims tax credit we were unaware he could have stayed on incapacity and still worked.

I have rheumatoid arthritis, overactive thyroid, carpool tunnel and tennis elbow as well as stress and anxiety caused by his illness

could anyone advise what he can claim and I could claim and in which order please. We live in the same home and he has been ill since 18 and is now 30.

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As your son is in receipt of the care element of DLA, you would be entitled to claim carers' allowance as long as you provide at least 35 hours care per week (as you have said that you are not now working we don't need to consider working hours or pay). This might enable you to also claim income support. However, if your son lost his DLA, for any reason, you would also lose your money.

If your son is unable to work because of his condition he might be entitled to claim ESA. You might also be entitled to this and also PIP (which is replacing DLA) in your own right if you are under state retirement age. You could not claim carers' allowance and ESA.

This is all quite complicated, I would strongly suggest that you get face 2 face advice somewhere like CAB to make sure that you understand all the ramifications before you start any claim. Meanwhile you could try putting various scenarios into a benefit calculator like Turn2us so that you have some idea of your options. There are other benefits (such as pension credit) that might come into the equation depending on your age etc.

You might want to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. This will allow you to come back with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. Please come back and let us know if you want to claim PIP, or either of you want to claim ESA, and we will do our best to help you.