panshipanshi/Flickr

Whether you care for someone with a disability or whether you’re disabled yourself, support is available in the form of disability benefits. Here’s our guide to make understanding what you are entitled to a bit easier.

• The main allowances
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Attendance Allowance (AA)
• Independent Living Fund
• Assistance with housing costs
• Vehicles and transport
• Interested in working?
• Still going to school?
• Help for parents of disabled children
• Benefits for carers

The main allowances

Several tax breaks are given to help you with the costs of living with, or caring for, disabilities. The three major ones are Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and the Independent Living Fund.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

This tax-free benefit is provided for people under the age of 65 who require care because of illness or disability. Disability Living Allowance is available to those who are able to work and those who aren’t. Any savings or income doesn’t usually affect your ability to get DLA.

How much can you expect?

Assessment is based on two separate parts. The first part works out whether you need a carer who helps look after you. The other part assesses your mobility and whether you require help walking and getting around.

The care component and mobility component are paid at different rates depending on how your disability affects you. The care component pays from £20.55–£77.45 weekly depending on your situation and the mobility component pays another £20.55–£54.05 weekly, again depending on your mobility.

Applying

Medical examinations are not typically needed and you can make a claim directly online or by phoning the Benefit Enquiry Line on 0800 88 22 00. The Benefit Enquiry Line is open 8.30 am–6.30 pm Monday to Friday.

Your allowance is then paid directly into your account so that you don’t have any more hassles once you’re granted your allowance. Even if you don’t get much money out of the Disability Living Allowance it’s still very much worth applying for it because it can increase the amount you receive from other benefits.

Things like Income Support, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit will normally increase once you’re granted Disability Living Allowance. Plus, your Disability Living Allowance isn’t included as part of your income.

Attendance Allowance (AA)

This is a tax-free benefit for those who are 65 or over and require care because of illness or disability. Again, your income or any savings you may have won’t usually affect how much Attendance Allowance you will get.

How much can you expect?

Each case is individually assessed and normally it isn’t necessary to have any medical examinations.  The weekly amount you can expect to receive is around £51.85–£77.45. The amount paid is based on how severely you’re affected by your disability.

It’s simple to claim, you can do so immediately online or by phoning the Benefit Enquiry Line on 0800 88 22 00.

The Attendance Allowance payments are made directly into your account. Just like with the Disability Living Allowance, you can benefit from increased amounts in other benefits.

You can have increased Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit or Pension Credit. Your Attendance Allowance payments are not included as part of your income when you are being assessed for increases in your other benefits and credits.

Independent Living Fund

Support is offered to those who are severely disabled and interested in living independently. For those wishing to remain in their houses and not move to a care home there’s the Independent Living Fund that can help for the cost of their personal and domestic care.

The fund helps pay for expenses such as equipment and for carers who may be needed to help you live at home.

You can apply for assistance if you:

• Are between the ages of 16 and 64
• Receive social services support of at least £340 weekly - this can be direct payments and/or services from your local authority, such as day-centre placements
• Are eligible for, or already get, the highest rate of the care component of the Disability Living Allowance
• Live on your own or with people who can’t take care of you fully
• Currently live in residential care and wish to leave and live independently, or if you are at risk of needing to enter residential care
• Can live independently for at least the next six months within the specified funding limit from both the Local Authority and Independent Living Fund currently set at £785 weekly
• Receive Income Support, or the Guarantee Part of State Pension Credit and have less than £23,250 in savings
• Meet the ‘residence and presence in the UK’ conditions.

How much can you expect?

Unlike other benefits, the Independent Living Fund calculates your payments on the hourly and weekly costs of your care. The maximum amount that you can receive is £475 per week which is paid directly into your account.

Unlike with other benefits your savings, income and certain other benefits you receive will affect how much you get from the fund. However, benefits that you are already receiving will not be affected by the money you get from the Independent Living Fund because the money is going directly towards care payments and is therefore not considered a part of your income.

Read The Independent Living Fund leaflets for further details.

What can you use the money for?

You can use your Independent Living Fund payments to pay for a carer or agency that assists you with your personal and domestic life including:

• bathing, toileting, washing and dressing
• cooking and shopping
• laundry, cleaning and other household tasks

There are lots of specific ways in which the money is not to be used. For example, you can’t have a relative taking care of you and collecting the money. Also, the money is intended to assist you in living your life independently and not for paying household bills. For a full list of what you can and can’t use the money for click here.

Apply now

You can either download an application form from the Independent Living Fund website, or you can visit the social services department of your local council for an application form.

If you’re eligible, a social worker from the ILF will contact your local authority social worker to arrange a convenient time to visit you. Together they’ll assess your needs.

Every two years the ILF will review your situation to ensure you’re getting the right level of payments and care.  The reviews are again a joint effort by the fund and your local authority social worker.

Assistance with housing costs

Running a home can be so expensive now, and with the added cost of care it can quickly become overwhelming. If you’re running a household and have a disability there are various benefits that you could be entitled to. Some of the breaks that are in place are:

Council Tax – This can be reduced by one band if you had to add any extensions or features that are essential for you to live there – for example, you’ve added an extension for a downstairs bedroom. The extension may put your property into a higher valuation banding, however you may be eligible for a one-band reduction.

Housing Benefit – This is for those on low income and paying rent and Council Tax. Both your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit would be paid by your local council.

Disabled facilities grants – This works like energy efficiency grants in that it is a grant paid by your local council to help towards the cost of essential adaptations to your home, enabling you to continue to living there.

Television licence discount – If you are blind and are registered with your local council, you can get a 50% discount on the cost of your TV licence.

For a full guide visit the Directgov website.

Vehicles and transport

How you get around is just as important as how you pay for it. Driving and public transport has never been so easily accessible and adaptable to those with additional needs.

Some of the schemes currently ongoing include:

Blue Badge parking scheme – The Blue Badge scheme provides a range of parking benefits for disabled people with severe walking difficulties who travel either as drivers or as passengers.

The Motability Scheme – If you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of Disabled Living Allowance then this scheme can assist you with leasing or buying a car, powered wheelchair or scooter. You may also qualify for VAT relief when leasing or hiring certain equipment.

Vehicle excise duty (car tax) exemption – Again if you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of Disabled Living Allowance then you may be exempt from paying vehicle tax too.

Community and public transport – Public transport has never been more accessible for the disabled, with some councils offering free off-peak travel on local buses to disabled people living in their area. A Disabled Person’s Railcard offers discounts for disabled passengers and one other person at a discount of up to a third off.

Interested in working?

If you’re capable of working and are interested in finding work then there are ‘Access to Work’ schemes. These government-funded schemes provide practical support at work which includes:

• paying towards special equipment, or a support worker
• assisting with the additional costs of travelling to work (on public transport)

There are loads of schemes available to assist in making your work life as accessible and comfortable as possible. You may even be eligible for a Job Grant, a one-off tax-free payment made once you start working again.

In addition to the Job Grant there are many more income supplements to help make ends meet once you’re back at work. However, even if you’re unable to go back to work these supplements are still available for you too. Some of these include:

Working Tax Credit – To help supplement low paying jobs. This is for the disabled or those who earn little and have a disabled person living with them.

Income Support – If you’re between 16 and the age you can get Pension Credit, live on a low income, aren’t working or are working on average less than 16 hours a week you can claim Income Support. The amount you’re eligible for does depend on your savings.

With Income Support there are three categories that you may fit into: Disability Premium, Severe Disability Premium or the Enhanced Disability Premium.

Once receiving Income Support you automatically qualify for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and may receive help towards health costs such as prescriptions.

Click here for a full list of schemes and programmes.

Still going to school?

If you’re interested in continuing education there’s no reason you can’t. With government schemes offering both money and practical adaptations the only challenge left will be how you’ll get all those final papers handed in.

Among the most important allowances offered are the Disabled Students’ Allowances intended for students attending higher education who are burdened with extra costs due to their disability. These allowances helps cover the additional costs.

These students receive help with things including specialist equipment plus non-medical personal assistance. These allowances are financial support that never need to be repaid and that are paid in addition to a standard student finance package.

There’s a lot of support offered if you want access to them, with up to £20,520 paid annually for a non-medical helper and £5,161 for specialist equipment. Click here for full details of how much you can expect to get.

You can apply online now and start getting the money you need to help complete whatever course you choose.

Help for parents of disabled children

Caring for a child with disabilities can be very rewarding, but as with all children it can get expensive. Why not make sure that you’re benefiting from all the additional money that’s put aside out there just for you?

Some of the major benefits available include:

Child Tax Credit – This is a tax credit that’s available for parents or carers of children who are still in full-time education. There may be extra cash for parents caring for a disabled child.

Disability Living Allowance – It’s the same allowance as above, however parents of children with a severe physical or mental illness or disability can apply for the Disability Living Allowance, in lieu of the child applying directly for it.

Sure Start Maternity Grant – For families on low incomes that are getting financial support including Income Support and/or Working Tax Credit because of a disability element. They’re entitled to a one-off payment to help towards the cost of their first baby (or more if it’s a multiple birth). This payment does not have to be repaid.

You receive £500 per baby and your savings does not affect the grant amount received. The payment is made directly into your account. Apply by completing the form and bringing it into your local Job Centre who are happy to complete the rest of the process for you.

You must apply for this grant in the period from the 29th week of your pregnancy until your child is three months old. You are eligible for this grant if you have adopted or if you’ve been granted a residence order. You must claim the grant within three months of the adoption or date of the residence order with the child being 12 months or younger at the time of your claim.

For babies born on or after 11 April 2011, you can only get a Sure Start Maternity Grant if there are no other children under 16 years old in your family.

The Early Support Programme – Is designed to support parents of young disabled children. It’s a great starting point to find out more about your child’s condition or impairment and how you can help care for them. It offers parents knowledge and support. There are some extra details to consider when planning their care and their education. For a full list of advice read on.

Benefits for carers

If you’re a carer for a disabled person there’s some very useful financial and practical support available for you.  The best place to read in depth all of your benefits is the Direct Gov website.

Some of the benefits you may be entitled to include a Carer’s assessment which is when a social worker comes and assesses the impact that caring has on you.  Depending on the assessment you may be entitled to support such as a break from caring, help with housework, changes to equipment or adaptations to the home that make caring easier and access to sustained emotional support.

It’s really important to be honest about the effects of caring and not to feel guilty about admitting that you need a break.  To apply follow this link and enter your address details. The site will then take you to your local council website where you can apply for a Carer’s assessment and find out more.

Another benefit available is a Carer’s Allowance. This is a taxable benefit to help those looking after a disabled person. In order to be eligible you must be 16 or over, spend a minumum of 35 hours weekly caring for a person receiving Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance or a War Disablement Pension.

You do not need to be a live-in carer or a relative in order to apply for this allowance. The weekly rate paid is £58.45 but you may get less if you receive other benefits. It is paid directly into your account.

You can apply online or by phoning the Carer’s Allowance Unit at 01253 856 123.

The office is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4.30pm Friday.

It’s very important that you’re aware of all your rights and benefits as a carer.  Make sure that you’re informed and are receiving adequate support.  If you aren’t taking care of yourself, then there’s no way you can take good care of someone else.

Remember, a great site to check if you have any other questions about what you could be entitled to is Direct Gov. It clearly lists all current government schemes, grants, benefits and tax credits in place to help ease challenges.

Useful links

• Department for Work and Pensions
• Age UK
• Disability Rights UK

If you have questions or thoughts about disability benefits, comment below or leave a question on our Facebook page.