HB Reg 3 defines a non-dependant as “any person, except someone to whom paragraph (2) applies, who normally resides with a claimant or with whom a claimant normally resides” and paragraph (2) applies to “… (f) a person who lives with the claimant in order to care for him or a partner of his and who is engaged by a charitable or voluntary organisation which makes a charge to the claimant or his partner for the services provided by that person”.
Therefore, if the carer does normally reside with the claimant, but the claimant is not paying for the service through official channels as required by Reg 3(2)(f), the carer is a non-dependant.
This will affect HB in two ways:
– if he is not entitled to AA there will have to be a non-dep deduction, or
– if the claimant is on AA, the non-dep’s presence will knock out the claimant’s severe disability premium. On the face of it that doesn’t matter immediately because it’s a PCGC case; but if the DWP has not taken the non-dep into account, it is likely that this change will reduce and perhaps even obliterate the claimant’s PCGC.
Looks like bad news both ways: either you are going to have to slap on a non-dep charge, or if not you are going to be responsible for getting his PC cut and perhaps even applying a taper to his HB and CTB.
On the other hand, if he hasn’t already claimed AA but now does so on your advice and his claim is successful, then you are the bringer of good news because he won’t have been getting any severe disability additions to HB or PC, so he won’t lose anything there, and as a result of the AA claim he won’t face a non-dep charge either: so he will be better off by the amount of AA he gets, with no strings.