What carers told Mobilise about carer's assessments, one year apart
A carer's assessment is a conversation with our local council about how caring affects our own life, what we need to keep going, and what support could help. In September 2025, and again in September 2026, we asked the Mobilise Community the same questions about carer's assessments and support plans.
We heard from 419 carers the first time and 1,172 the second, and by the end of this post we hope anyone thinking about asking for an assessment will have a clearer idea of what other carers found, what put some of us off, and what seemed to make the process go better. These answers of course only describe the carers who took part in our surveys so they won't reflect everyone's experience, although they do give a good picture of the ups and downs some of us have had along the way.
Some of us hadn't heard of a carer's assessment
Just over half of us (53%) had never asked for an assessment in 2026, close to the 49% who said the same in 2025, so the picture didn't change much in a year. When we asked what had stopped people, the most common answer by far was that they didn't know assessments existed, or didn't know how to ask for one, and that was true for around 40% of those who hadn't requested one in both years. One carer told us:
"I didn't know about them. It wasn't explained or offered to me."
Several others said they'd only found out recently, including one who hadn't heard of it until the week before they filled in the survey. Some of the confusion came from not knowing who the assessment was for. A few carers thought that because the person they look after had already been assessed, they didn't need one too, with one writing:
"My husband has been assessed, I didn't think I had to as well."
Others didn't realise they could ask on their own behalf, or weren't sure whether to contact their own council or the council where the person they care for lives, when the two are different. There was a more hopeful sign in 2026, as the share of carers who weren't sure whether they'd ever asked fell from 17% to 8%, which suggests more of us now know where we stand.
When caring feels like part of everyday life
Plenty of people who care for someone don't think of themselves as a carer, and that came through in what people wrote. "I care for my husband and I thought it was expected of me," one person said, while another explained they didn't feel like a carer because they look after their husband, "and that's what you do when you are married." Caring for someone we love usually grows out of the relationship we already have with them, so it makes sense that an assessment about our own needs might not feel like it's meant for us.
Timing played a part as well, since a number of carers said they were managing for now and would ask when things got harder. A few described that moment arriving, like the carer who wrote:
"[I] didn't think I needed it while care tasks were simple but as time passed care tasks are getting more."
Others held back because asking felt like admitting something, with one carer saying they "didn't want people to think I can't look after my husband."
Thinking we wouldn't qualify
Alongside not knowing about assessments, around 10% of carers who hadn't asked for one thought they wouldn't qualify. Some assumed that because the person they care for already receives Attendance Allowance or PIP there'd be nothing extra for them, while others thought their income, their pension, their age or the fact that they work would rule them out. One working carer summed up how that can feel, writing,
"Because I'm a working carer, juggling both, people say oh well you're managing!"
A carer’s assessment isn't means-tested, so our income, savings, age or the benefits the person we care for receives shouldn't stop us from being assessed. Some of the support that follows can be means-tested, which may be where some of these worries come from, and one carer described being told over the phone that nothing could be offered because their parents had savings. If we're not sure how it works where we live, Carers UK and our local carers service can explain the process, and in Scotland the equivalent is called an Adult Carer Support Plan.
Forms, finances and feeling judged
The process itself put some of us off, from the carer who felt "overwhelmed by the thought of filling it in" to those who worried about the council "poking around in finances" or being seen as "greedy for some money". It's understandable that an assessment can feel like being judged, even though its purpose is to look at what would help us.
More of us asked, and more of us were left waiting
The share of carers who had asked for an assessment rose from 34% in 2025 to 40% in 2026, although more of us were also still waiting, and of those still waiting in 2026, more than half had been waiting over three months. About a third of carers who'd been assessed were seen within four weeks in both years, so a quick assessment is possible, and for some of us it's already happening.
What happened after the assessment
Fewer carers felt the support that followed met their expectations, with the share saying it fully or mostly did falling from 56% in 2025 to 41% in 2026. Some described losing touch afterwards, like the carer who wrote:
"I could not get hold of the social worker after having an assessment. I did not get the report back."
Carers who were seen sooner, or face to face, tended to feel better about what came next.
What carers said would help
When carers explained what held them back, some were also pointing to what would have made a difference. Some wanted help with the forms, like the carer who said:
"I don't have enough time to complete and it's very complicated. I need help."
Others wanted to understand what an assessment is for before putting time into it, with one carer writing that they didn't know "what it is for and the difference it would make."
Several said nobody had mentioned it to them at all, while one carer told us their GP surgery automatically gives them regular appointments for a carer's review, which is a good example of support reaching someone through a service they already use.
"[I] didn't know what it is for and the difference it would make."
How to ask for a Carer's Assessment
If any of this sounds familiar, the good news is that an assessment is something we can ask for ourselves, and it's about our needs as well as the needs of the person we care for. To help make sense of it all, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to carer's assessments, full of tips which carers in the Mobilise Community have shared with each other. Here's a brief introduction to how the process tends to work and what's helped others get the most from it:
1. Find out who to contact
The council where the person we care for lives is responsible for carer's assessments, although the local carers organisation often carries them out on its behalf, so it's a good first call. We can also find the right local council on GOV.UK and search its website for "carers assessment". If you live in Scotland, the equivalent is an Adult Carer Support Plan.
2. Know that the assessment is for us
We don't need to live with the person we care for, get Carer's Allowance or give a set number of hours of care, and even if the person we care for has already been assessed, we can still ask for an assessment of our own. The assessment itself isn't means-tested, although the council may look at our finances if support is agreed afterwards.
3. Choose how we'd like to be assessed
Our assessment can happen alongside that of the person we care for, or privately if we'd prefer. Since the carers who completed our survey rated in-person assessments more highly than phone ones, it may be worth asking whether a face-to-face conversation is possible.
4. Prepare before the day
Some of us find it helps to write down what we do in a typical week, how it affects us and what would help, and some carers find it useful to describe their worst day so the full picture comes across.
5. Get some support while we wait
With more than half of the carers still waiting in 2026 having waited over three months, Mobilise's free Mini Carer's Assessment can help in the meantime, with an automated call we can take at any time and a personalised support plan sent by email afterwards.
6. Keep track of what happens next
Making a note of everything that's agreed gives us something to refer back to if we need to follow up, and we can ask for a review each year, or sooner if things change. Talking through the hard parts can leave us feeling low, so some carers plan a cuppa with a friend or a walk, for afterwards.
There's much more detail, including questions to help us prepare and other carers' experiences, in our full guide to Carer's Assessments, plus the Mobilise Hub is a good place to ask other carers how their assessments went. If we prefer to explore the topic by ourselves in our own time, here are some links to helpful content produced by Mobilise:
