Eugene from London's mother is in a care home but he still has considerable responsibilities in looking after her, for instance paying for her dental care and her shopping. Why can't he get Carer's Allowance?

The overlapping benefit rules apply here.

However if they did not - if the carer was not getting an overlapping benefit - then it is arguable that Carer's Allowance could still be claimed.

To be entitled to Carers Allowance: You must be 16 years old or over; you must look after someone for at least 35 hours a week; the person you look after must receive a qualifying disability benefit (usually Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance); if you work you must not earn more than �95; you must not get one of a list of other benefits; you must be living in the UK when you claim Carer's Allowance and you must not be a full-time student.

There is no rule that a carer cannot get Carer's Allowance if the cared for person is living in a care home.

Practically the difficulty might be showing that 35 hours of care is still being provided each week if the cared for person is living in a care home - but is this is established then Carer's Allowance could still be paid if all the other rules are satisfied.

Michael has written in to ask why he loses the right to claim Carer's Allowance when his daughter is in hospital because, as he points out he still as to spend a lot of time travelling to see her and providing basic items for her stay.

A Community Care Grant can be claimed to assist with the travel costs of visiting someone in hospital. To be eligible you need to be receiving one of the means tested benefits - Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance or Pension Credit. One of the problems with Community Care Grants though is that it is strictly budget limited - so you can be refused a payment simply because there is no money left in the budget.

An alternative to claiming a Community Care Grant is to request a Carer's Assessment from your Local Authority.

A Carer's Assessment enables Local Authorities to provide services to carers and a service can be anything that could help the carer care for the cared for person.

Guidance to the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 gives as examples of the types of services that might be provided travel assistance and laundry - both of which would help Michael. The key thing is for the carer to explain at the assessment any difficulties they currently have with caring and the Local Authority should work creatively with the carer to address those difficulties.

Pat Lean asks "when does love and filial responsibility end and wanting to be paid for the natural care and attention begin? If there is a child in the family who needs caring, why should the parent be paid for looking after their dearest loved one?"

So she's essentially asking, why should there be money for people who choose to look after their relatives - isn't that we're supposed to do anyway?

Many carers manage to juggle both work and caring and receive no benefit. But that is not always possible.

Carers provide an invaluable contribution to society and if they cannot work as well as care then I would argue that carers should receive an adequate level of support through the benefit system. A single carer over 25 but below pensionable age who claims Carer's Allowance and Income Support currently receives �86.30 each week.

Carers UK is campaigning to increase carers' incomes and the government is currently reviewing its whole carers strategy including the benefits paid to carers. Carers UK is attending the government's carer's income taskforce meetings and arguing for an increase to carer's benefits.

Ranjith from Surrey asks simply: How do you plan your finances to be a carer and what advice can you give to the person who requires the care?

If you are in employment and a carer or going to become a carer then you are entitled to request flexible working under the Work and Families Act 2006.

What this means is that you can ask your employer to change your working hours or pattern of work so that you are better able to both work and care. Your employer can refuse this but only if she or he has a good business reason to do. If your employer does refuse your request there is a right of appeal.

Most carers will have a higher income if they can manage to work and care because the level of carers' benefits is low. If it is not possible to work and care then it is very important to get a benefit check as soon as you can.

You should check: Does the person you care for have an entitlement to Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance? Do you have an entitlement to Carer's Allowance? Are there any means tested benefits that you can claim - such as Income Support, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit?

Are you entitled to a 25% discount on your council tax bill because you are a carer?

You should also ensure that you get a Carer's Assessment from your Local Authority to see if these are services that they can provide to help you with your caring.

Finally the person you are caring for should have a community care assessment to ensure that they are getting all the services and support that they need.

Richard Norton writes to ask: How do you go about getting help with the costs of nursing care?

There is a payment made by the NHS called the registered nursing care contribution. This is usually made directly to the care home. A registered nurse should conduct an assessment to see if the cared for person is eligible for the registered nursing care contribution of �101 each week. It is always a good idea to check that an assessment has been made.

If you have nursing needs that require 24-hour continuous nursing care, you may be entitled to full NHS funding for your care home fees. This is called NHS continuing care. In order to identify whether you meet the criteria, a continuing care assessment needs to be completed by a health professional. If you are assessed as being eligible for NHS continuing care, you will not pay for any of the costs charged by the care home.

John from Bristol wants to know why Invalid Care Allowance is not means tested when Carer's Premium is means tested - even if the applicant is in receipt of Council Tax Benefit?

The rules for Carer's Allowance, Income Support and Council Tax Benefit are all different. We have already discussed Carer's Allowance above. Income Support and Council Tax Benefit are both means tested benefits.

Means tested benefits such as Income Support are paid if the claimant has no income or income below a minimum level, called the applicable amount.

The applicable amount is made up of a personal allowance, any premiums a person is entitled to and certain housing costs. There is a premium called the carer's premium - this is not a separate benefit but part of Income Support and it is paid if Carer's Allowance has been claimed - regardless of whether Carer's Allowance is actually in payment.

At the moment if you are over 25 and below pension age the personal allowance is �59.15. If you are entitled to the carer's premium this is added to the personal allowance and your applicable amount becomes �86.30 - if you have no housing costs.

So if your income is below �86.30 and you claim Income Support you will have your income topped up to �86.30.

Council Tax Benefit is calculated in a very similar way but it is slightly more generous.

Whereas Income Support is not payable if your income is higher than your applicable amount Council Tax Benefit can be paid even if you have a bit more income then your applicable amount.

So even if you are not entitled to Income Support you might be entitled to Council Tax Benefit.

Frazer from Cumbria has written in to ask:

My wife has a chronic condition which keeps her virtually bed fast. She receives the Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate. Until recently I received Carer's Allowance. The day after my 65th birthday I received a letter telling me that this allowance would cease, as my State Pension would exceed the amount payable for Carer's Allowance.

I fail to see any logic in this. Can you explain?

The rule that Frazer is referring to is called the overlapping benefit rule.

If you already receive one of the following benefits (of the same amount as Carer's Allowance or more) you will not be able to get Carer's Allowance: Incapacity Benefit, State Retirement Pension, Widow's and bereavements benefits , Maternity Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Contribution-based Job Seeker's Allowance.

If you get one of these benefits, it may still be worth applying for Carer's Allowance as you may qualify for additional amounts of means tested benefits. Frazer should apply for Pension Credit - the means tested benefit for retired people as he may be entitled to this. But there is currently no other non means tested benefit that he can claim.

Linda Marchant has written to ask how she can challenge a decision made by her benefits office, after they suddenly stopped her Carer's Allowance?

You can work and claim Carer's Allowance but your earnings must be below the earning limit which is currently �95. The following deductions can be made from your gross wage when deciding whether you earn less than the limit: Income Tax, National Insurance, Half your pension contributions.

If you pay someone to care for a child, or the person you look after, you can make extra deductions from your gross wage. Up to half of your wage can be ignored if you make these payments. You are not allowed to take off payments to a close relative for the childcare or other care.

For Income Support you can only earn �20 each week. If you earn more than this then you lose �1 of Income Support for each �1 of earnings.

This carer should write to the Carer's Allowance Unit and the Income Support section and make a complaint.

This matter has been outstanding for three months and a decision on entitlement should have been made within three months. If the Income Support section or the Carer's Allowance Unit decides that the carer has been overpaid benefit she may be able to challenge this decision at an appeal tribunal. Overpayments are only recoverable if the claimant has failed to give the relevant departments information on her earnings or the information given was not correct.

Frank Mohan from Coventry has written in to ask why the Council Tax exemption does not apply to carers who are also partners?

Carers can claim a 25% discount on their Council Tax bill if they are caring for someone who is getting a relevant disability benefit (usually Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance), and the cared for person is not the carer's child or partner. So an adult carer looking after her mother for instance would be entitled.