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What is DLA?
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a tax-free benefit for disabled children and adults to help with extra costs you may have because you're disabled. If you under 65 and have care or mobility needs due to an illness or disability (physical or mental) you may be able to claim Disability Living Allowance. You can get Disability Living Allowance whether or not you work. It isn't usually affected by any savings or income you may have. If you're aged 65 or over, you may be able to get Attendance Allowance.
Disability Living Allowance has two parts called 'components':
a care component - if you need help looking after yourself or supervision to keep safe.
a mobility component - if you can't walk or need help getting around.
Some people will be entitled to get just one component; others may get both.
The care component and mobility component are paid at different rates depending on how your disability affects you.
Care Component
Lowest rate (£20.55 per week)
If you need help for some of the day or you are unable to prepare a cooked main meal.
Middle rate (£51.85 per week)
If you need help with personal care frequently or supervision continually throughout the day only, or help with personal care or someone to watch over you during the night only, or someone with you while you are on dialysis.
Highest rate (£77.45 per week)
If you need help or supervision frequently throughout the day and during the night.
You can get Disability Living Allowance for your care needs even if no one is actually giving you the care you need, even if you live alone.
Mobility Component
To get the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, your disability must be severe enough for you to have any of the following walking difficulties, even when wearing or using an aid or equipment you normally use:
- you are unable or virtually unable to walk without severe discomfort, or at risk of endangering your life or causing deterioration in your health by making the effort to walk;
- you have no feet or legs;
- you are assessed to be both 100 per cent disabled because of loss of eyesight and not less than 80 per cent disabled because of deafness and you need someone with you when you are out of doors;
- you are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and qualify for the highest rate of care component;
- you need guidance or supervision most of the time from another person when walking out of doors in unfamiliar places;
- you are certified as severely sight impaired by a consultant ophthalmologist, you must also have a best corrected visual acuity of less than 3/60, or you must have a best corrected visual acuity of 3/60 or more but less than 6/60 together with a complete loss of peripheral visual field and a central visual field of no more than ten degrees in total.
Lower rate (£20.55 per week)
If you need guidance or supervision out of doors.
Higher rate (£54.05 per week)
If you have any of the other, more severe, walking difficulties.
For more information see
DLA care component and
DLA mobility component.
Can I get it?
If you have an illness or disability that affects your daily life then it is worth finding out whether you can claim additional benefits. Each claim is assessed individually to see whether you meet the eligibility rules and which rate is payable.
How do I claim?
Disability Living Allowance is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions,
who run a confidential telephone service to help people with disabilities. The Benefit Enquiry Line is 0800 88 22 00 (calls are free). The textphone number for deaf and hard-of-hearing people 0800 24 33 55. Alternatively you can claim Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit online using the
Department for Work and Pension's eclaims service.
The application form is very long and asks for a lot of personal information. You should get a friend, relative or adviser to help you complete it if possible. Many advice agencies can make an appointment for you to visit them to do this. There may be some sections of the form that you are more comfortable filling in on your own, but a professional adviser is used to dealing with sensitive information and can help you complete the form correctly. For organisations that can help with claiming disability benefits please visit the sites on our more advice page.
Effect on other benefits and entitlements
If you start to get Disability Living Allowance it might increase the amount of other benefits you're entitled to, for example:
•Income Support
•income-related Employment and Support Allowance
•Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
•Pension Credit
•Housing Benefit
•Council Tax Benefit
•Working Tax Credit
•Child Tax Credit
Disability Living Allowance is normally ignored as income for working out these income-related benefits and tax credits.
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