Fees payment, fostering allowance and universal credit

[SHC99]

I have had my niece in my care for the last 3 years. She is under a full carer order to the la until she is 18. I will in future apply for residency order.

Over the last 2 years my niece has had health issues so much so that after her hospitalisation in May 2023 I went off sick in work due to being overwhelmed trying to juggle everything. The la agreed they no longer wanted me to work and applied for a fees payment due to what my niece goes through and the high level of support I give her. I was successful in receiving the fee payment. Payments will start in the coming weeks

I have a daughter of my own and I recieve universal credit for her and for help with my rent. With this additional money will this affect my universal credit claim or will they not count it as they do currently? Also how can I stop universal credit badgering me to find work when ss do not want me to work?

Thank you

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear SHC99

Thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today.

You have been caring for your niece for the last three years. There is a care order in place and your plan is to make an application to court for a residence order in the future.

Your niece has complex health issues. In May of this year, she was hospitalised, you were still working and trying to juggle caring for your niece and working. This became too much; you were feeling overwhelmed and with reassurance from children’s services commitment to pay you the fees element of the fostering allowance you decided to leave your place of work to care for your niece fulltime. Payments are due to start soon.

You have a daughter and receive universal credit. You are seeking advice on whether the fees element of the fostering allowance will affect your universal credit claim and how you can stop universal credit from 'badgering' you to find work when you say children’s services do want you to work.

As long as you satisfy the other eligibility rules, you can claim Universal Credit if you are a foster carer.

All of the money you get as fostering allowance should be ignored when working out how much Universal Credit you can get.

If you are getting help with your housing costs through Universal Credit, you can get payment for one extra bedroom if you are a foster carer. You can get this money even if you do not have a foster child living with you at the moment. You will only get payment for one extra bedroom, even if you have more than one foster child living with you. If you are in private rented accommodation, you are limited to the rate for four bedrooms, even if the size of your household means you need more than four bedrooms.

You can’t get any extra money in your Universal Credit for the child you are fostering.
Everyone who gets Universal Credit has to agree to a claimant commitment.

• If you are a foster carer for a child aged under 1, you won’t have to do any work-related activity.
• If you are a foster carer for a child aged 1-16, you will only have to take part in work-focused interviews.
• If you are a foster carer for a child aged over 16 who is a qualifying young person , you might have to take part only in work-focused interviews if your foster child has care needs and your work coach agrees that it would be unreasonable for you to have to look for work.
• If you are between placements, had a placement in the past 8 weeks and are expecting to have another placement, you will only have to do work-focused interviews.
• If you are a foster carer and none of the above applies to you, you will be placed in 'all work-related requirements' group. You will be expected to look for work and to be available to take up a job if one is offered to you.

I have added a link HERE to the Fostering Network information page regarding benefits when fostering. Please do take a look. It has lots of information and guidance regarding different types of entitlements for foster carers.

Regarding the order you may seek for your niece in the future, I have added a link HERE to our general information page for kinship carers. It would be a good idea to contact us again when you are thinking of making an application to court for an Order. We will be able to provide information and advice regarding your possible options before you commit to a particular one. For example, we can support you to weigh up the pros and cons of making an application, for a ‘lives with’ (residence) Child Arrangements Order vs a Special Guardianship Order. There is specific legislation for both, and each Order provides different levels of responsibility for the person seeking the order AND the duties and responsibilities the local authority has in respect of them.


I hope you find this information helpful. To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask us another question via email using our advice enquiry form. We also have our online advice forums. They are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences. There is also a webchat service that you may wish to access. The webchat is not a bot, you will be answered by one of our advisers. Please refer to our website for further information and advice.

Best wishes, Suzie