Hi I am a single guy and I have reduced my hours in work to 15 hours per week to look after both my parents ... I have put in an application for carers allowance which is means tested. can you anyone advise when this is means tested do they take into account your outgoings such as your mortgage payments and bills that come out of your monthly income? As I see that when i was previously assessed they just assesed me on how much i have earned so far this year and divided it by the current number of weeks without taking into account my outgoings or that my hours are now reduced to 15 hours but my mortgage still has to be paid .