Information for parents and families with a disabled parent and/or child.
This page discusses the various forms of support you can access if your child has a disability. We use the social model of disability, which acknowledges that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference.
Any new claim for benefits will involve a Universal Credit claim. While Universal Credit has replaced a number of older ‘legacy’ benefits such as income support, a number of benefits relevant to disability continue to exist as separate benefits.
These include:
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the main benefit for children under 16 with a long-term health condition or disability. DLA helps to meet the extra costs that you might have as a result of your child’s disability.
DLA is divided into two components, a Care component and a Mobility component. Your child may qualify for one or both of these components. You will receive a weekly rate for each component depending on your child’s needs.
| Lowest Rate | Your child needs help for some of the day | £24.45 per week |
| Middle Rate | Your child needs frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night or someone to help while they’re on dialysis | £61.85 per week |
| Highest Rate | Your child needs help or supervision throughout both day and night or they’re terminally ill | £92.40 per week |
| Lowest Rate | Your child can walk but need help and or supervision when outdoors. They are at least five years old. | £24.45 per week |
| Highest Rate | Your child cannot walk, can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort, could become very ill if they try to walk or they’re blind, severely sight impaired. They are at least three years old. | £64.50 per week |
DLA is usually paid every four weeks in arrears. It is paid directly into your bank account.
To claim DLA for a child you need to be their parent or look after them as if you are their parent. This includes step-parents, guardians, grandparents, foster-parents or older brothers or sisters.
To apply, you can phone the Disability Living Allowance helpline and ask for them to send you a DLA1A Child form.
Alternative formats, such as braille, large print, or audio CD are available. For help with filling in the form, see Contact’s information on DLA.
You can also print off a DLA claim form. However, it is generally better to phone if possible, as your form will be stamped with the date that you called and you will be paid from that day. If you print off the form, you’ll only be paid from the date they receive it.
There are special rules if a child is not expected to live more than 6 months, so they can get DLA more quickly.
Phone the Disability Living Allowance helpline to start your claim. Ask a doctor or other healthcare professional for form DS1500. They’ll either fill it in and give the form to you or send it directly to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Carer’s Allowance is the main benefit for carers. You are eligible if you care for your child at least 35 hours a week and they are:
This is not a mean-tested benefit, so it does not matter what savings and income you have. However, to ensure you are better off, an extra amount is added to your benefit, sometimes called a ‘carer premium’ or ‘carer amount’. If you are claiming at means-tested benefit and considering claiming Carer’s Allowance, we recommend getting advice about how your benefit will be affected.
Carer’s Allowance is £69.70 a week. You can only receive it once even if you are caring for more than one person. It does count as income for the purposes of tax credits and any means-tested benefits you might claim, such as Universal Credit. However to ensure you are better off an extra amount of £168.81 per month known as the ‘Carer’s Element’ is added to any means-tested benefit you receive.
You can apply online using the government’s Carer’s Allowance webpage. Alternatively, if you would prefer to use a paper claim form you can call the Carer’s Allowance Unit on 0800 731 0297 to ask for one.
Carer’s Allowance should be backdated to the start of the DLA/PIP award so long as you claim within three months of receiving the decision awarding your child DLA or PIP.
There are a number of other forms of support out there you may be able to access.
You may be able to apply for a grant to help meet your child’s needs.
If you’re claiming means-tested benefits, or if you’re on a low income, you may be able to get help with NHS costs. This could include the cost of prescriptions or travel to hospital appointments. Use the NHSBSA online tool to check what help you can get and what to do next.
You are eligible for the Blue Badge parking concession scheme if your child either:
If your child doesn’t qualify for a blue badge automatically under the above rules, they may still qualify under the so called ‘assessed route’. Find out more about the Blue Badge scheme.
If you are a parent and would like to find out more about our Family Grant Scheme please fill in the following form to request a call back.
If you are a parent and would like to find out more about our Student-Parent Grant Scheme please fill in the following form to request a call back.
(01274) 223292
The Work and Kids Project is a not-for-profit social enterprise that is dedicated to helping parents and young families across the UK achieve financial and emotional independence.
