Resumption of Carers Benefit from Sick Leave

I gave up my full time job to look after a sick relative in Nov 09. I was then in receipt of Carers Benefit. At end of March 2010 I hurt my leg & was signed off sick by my GP for a month. I phone the Carers Benefit office and explained. They told me to do nothing until I got my final cert from my GP and then send them in a copy of it and my Carers Benefit would then resume. I sent in copy of final cert and note saying that I was returning to work as a Carer on 26th April. My carers benefit never resumed. Now their office tells me there's a 12 week backlog? Could this be correct? It's not as if it's a new claim or anything - it's just a resumption of my Carers payment. This has annoyed me so much as I dont know how I'm going to survive for another 8 weeks.

If you have no income while you are waiting on your Carer's to resume payment, you may qualify for Supplementary Welfare Allowance from the Community Welfare Officer at your local health centre.

SWA is means tested, so entitlement will depend on your circumstances.

If you qualify for SWA, payment can be made until your carer's resumes.

Thank you. When I phoned Carers Benefit section I did ask was there any allowance I could get in the interim and I was told No. I was also reminded that unnecessary phone calls to their office took up a lot of time! Thank you very much for your help.