People who claim Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment or Attendance Allowance can qualify for an extra allowance when some benefits are calculated, this is called a 'severe disability premium'. The benefits that can include the 'severe disability premium' are Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Housing Benefit and Pension Credit.

If you are single the severe disability premiumis included in your award if:

• you receive a qualifying disability benefit (Attendance Allowance, constant Attendance Allowance, the care component of Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate or Personal Independence Payment daily living component at standard or enhanced rate); and
• no-one gets paid Carer's Allowance (CA), Carer Support Payment (CSP) or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after you (if your carer is eligible for CA or CSP but does not receive a payment due to overlapping benefit rules then they do not count); and
• you have no non-dependant adults living with you (unless they are also receiving a qualifying disability benefit or are registered blind)

If you are in a couple you can receive the severe disability premium if:

• you both receive a qualifying disability benefit (or one of you receives a qualifying disability benefit and the other person is registered blind); and
• you have no non-dependant adults living with you (unless they are also receiving a qualifying disability benefit or are registered blind)

Where both members of a couple receive a qualifying disability benefit you will receive a couple's rate of SDP if no-one receives payments of CA, CSP or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after either of you (if your carer is eligible for CA/CSP but does not receive a payment due to overlapping benefit rules then they do not count). If someone gets CA, CSP or the carer element of Universal Credit for one member of the couple - but not the other - then SDP is paid at a single rate.

Where only one member of a couple receives a qualifying disability benefit and their partner is registered blind, then SDP will be paid at the single rate only. However, if someone gets a payment of CA, CSP or the carer element of Universal Credit for the person on the qualifying disability benefit, no SDP will be paid.

SDP is not affected where a carer is entitled to CA or CSP but not paid it because they receive another benefit instead - this is what is referred to as overlapping benefit rules. For more information on the rules used see information on Carer's Allowance/Carer Support Payment.

If you are in a situation where you can choose between benefits we strongly advise you to seek further advice from a recognised adviser to work out which benefit you would be better off claiming.

For more information on the rules used in the calculator to work out eligibility to extra allowances see disability premiums in benefits.

Severe Disability Premium and Universal Credit

There is no equivalent to the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) in Universal Credit (UC).

Between 16 January 2019 and 27 January 2021 a block was put in place stopping working age people who receive a SDP from moving to UC if they had a relevant change in their circumstances. The block was put in place to prevent a considerable loss in benefit income for SDP recipients.

The block was lifted on 27 January 2021 and, instead, a top-up payment called an 'SDP transitional element' has been added to UC for SDP claimants who move to UC. This extra element is only available to those who were entitled to an award of Income support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support allowance that included an SDP, not those who only had an SDP in their Housing Benefit.

This is a complicated area so please do seek specialist advice if you are in this situation.

SDP recipients who can move to UC from 27 Jan 2021

If you are receiving the SDP and have a change in circumstances that prompts a new claim to Universal Credit, you will now need to claim Universal Credit instead of your existing benefits.

When you make your claim a top-up SDP transitional element will be included in the calculation of your Universal Credit award. From April 2024 the amount in your first assessment period will be as follows:

 

Single	An LCWRA element is included in your UC award	£140.97 per month
	No LCWRA element is included in your UC award	£334.81 per month
Couple	The higher SDP rate was payable in your legacy benefi	£475.79 per month
	You weren’t getting the higher SDP rate and an LCWRA element is included in your UC award for either of you	£140.97 per month
	You weren’t getting the higher SDP rate and no LCWRA element is included in your UC award for either of you	£334.81 per month

After the first assessment period, the SDP transitional element is treated as if it were a standard transitional element, meaning it may decrease over time. You can find out more about these on our transitional element help page.

Once a process called 'managed migration' takes place SDP recipients will not get the SDP transitional element included in their UC award in their first assessment period, they will instead get a standard transitional element from the start of their UC claim.

Managed migration is the name of the government’s plan to move all existing benefit claimants with no change of circumstance over to UC.

If you reach pension age and can't claim Pension Credit due to having a working age partner you can now claim UC if you have a change of circumstance, even if you receive a SDP. An SDP transitional element can be included as described above.

Previous SDP recipients already on UC before 16 Jan 2019

If you were receiving an SDP in a legacy benefit (unless you were only claiming Housing Benefit) and you were moved over to Universal Credit before 16 January 2019, meaning your SDP stopped, you will have remained on Universal Credit and you should have received an additional amount to compensate you for the financial loss experienced as a result.

A lump-sum payment to cover the period since you moved to Universal Credit was issued to eligible claimants in the Summer of 2019 and additional monthly payments have been paid since.

The monthly payment started at either £120, £284 or £405, depending on your circumstances. Since 8 October 2020, this monthly payment has been converted into a standard transitional element, becoming part of the overall UC award, and treated in the same way as other transitional elements, meaning it may decrease over time. Find out more on our transitional element help page.