Income based JSA/DLA/carer's premium - & NEW Deal

I wonder if someone can advise me.

Both I and my husband are on income based JSA, having run a company for many years. I am also in receipt of DLA at higher rate mobility and middle rate care. The JSA has increased with a payment for care of about £39 p.w. Following submission of a JSA6, I am handing in medical certificates each month and am released from having to look for work.

My husband has received a 'new deal' letter today when he signed on, and has to go for an i/v to look for new ways to maximise his potential; as we have been in that very business for 26 years I don't think they are likely to come up with anything useful! But I am looking for advice regarding my DLA and its care element.

Clearly the DWP is aware of this because as I say there is an allowance on top of the standard income-based JSA - I assume this is carer's premium. Should my husband claim carer's allowance? Should he ask for dispensation to seek work for reduced hours?

After I started writing this I happened to see the Carers Allowance factsheet and in it, under 'Work Focused Interviews', it says - work-focused interviews are not compulsory for Carer’s Allowance claimants. You will still be invited to attend an interview, but can choose not to go if it is not practical for you to attend or you don’t think it is appropriate.............If you feel that a work-focused interview is inappropriate for you, eg because of the level of care you provide or because of your own health needs, you can ask for the interview to be deferred or waived.'

I assume this related to someone who is receipt of income-based JSA. One the face of it, it would seem sensible for him to apply for Carer's Allowance - I don't know if this would affect the amount of JSA we receive but presumably if so it would only be by the amount of the allowance - but it's impossible to gauge without more knowledge of the system whether it would be a good idea for him to apply for the Carer's Allowance or not.

A further consideration is that due to early onset arthritis, my husband has had 3 ops on his knee over the last 3 years,one being a partial knee replacement, and it now seems likely that he will have to have that changed for a full knee replacement in the foreseeable future.

I was originally given a range of options, whether to stay on joint JSA, whether to move onto joint ESA, or whether to split the claim. I opted to go for the JSA/JSA6 option as being the easiest least disruptive option but even that seemed to throw the whole thing into disarray for a while so I want to be sure I make the right decision here!

Sorry for the lengthy post, I hope someone can help!

Leaving the JSA issue aside because it is beyond the remit of this forum, your husband can claim Carer's Allowance if he satisfies the conditions of entitlement.

This page from the Directgov website refers to Carers Allowance.

yes he does, as far as I can see, with income based JSA, and me on HRM and mrc. The directgov page doesn't give much info, the factsheet is better but I had hoped that there was someone on the forum claiming jsa and carer's allowance who could tell me more.