DLA and other financial help

This advice applies in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Read about Child Disability Payment in Scotland.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the main benefit for disabled children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is not taxable, and it doesn’t count as income for other benefits.

Instead, getting DLA can lead to an increase in other benefits you receive. It can also help you qualify for entitlements for the first time. And getting an increased rate award may lead to something else.

Getting DLA can mean you’re eligible for other forms of financial support too.

In this article

Carer’s Allowance

If your child gets the middle or the highest rate of the DLA care component, the benefits system might start to treat you as a carer.

This means you may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance as your child’s carer. If you are getting Universal Credit, you can become exempt from having to take any steps to look for work as a condition of your claim. You may also be able to access an extra Universal Credit payment known as the carer element.

Carer’s Allowance can be backdated in line with the DLA award, as long as you apply within three months of getting the DLA decision. If you apply later, Carer’s Allowance can only be backdated for three months.

Extra tax credits or Universal Credit payments

If your family gets Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit, you’ll get extra payments for a child who gets DLA. This also applies for a child whose existing DLA award increases to the highest rate of the care component.

Your payments will increase by anything from £36 to £112 a week. This depends on the rate of DLA your child gets. See our Universal Credit webpage for more information on eligibility and payment rates.

Backdating these payments

It can take several months to get a decision on your child’s DLA claim. Normally, once you get a decision awarding your child DLA, it is backdated to the date that you lodged the claim. Whether the extra Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit payments you get for your disabled child will also be backdated in line with the DLA award depends on which benefit you are claiming.

Child Tax Credit

If you get Child Tax Credit, make sure you tell the Tax Credit Office within one month of the date on your child’s DLA decision. So long as you do this, the extra tax credits – known as the disabled child element – should be backdated in line with DLA.

However, if you delay in telling the Tax Credits Office, you won’t get the extra tax credits backdated more than one month. Read our FAQs for more information on the backdating rules for the Child Tax Credit disabled child element.

Universal Credit

The backdating rules are more generous for Universal Credit. Under Universal Credit, the extra payment – known as the disabled child addition – should be automatically backdated to the most recent of either:

• The date your Universal Credit claim started.
• The date your child’s DLA award started.

This applies even if there was a delay in telling Universal Credit that your child is on DLA. If the Universal Credit office challenges this, read our webpage for advice.

Both benefits

Tax Credit claimants are gradually moving onto Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process. If you moved from Child Tax Credit to Universal Credit, and your child’s DLA award has been backdated to a date when you were still on Child Tax Credit, you will need to tell both Universal Credit and the Tax Credits Office about the DLA award.

Arrears of the disabled child addition paid as part of your Universal Credit should automatically be backdated to the start of your Universal Credit claim. However, Child Tax Credit will only pay you arrears of the disabled child element if you tell them about your DLA award within one month of the date on your decision letter.

Income Support

Some families who claimed Income Support before the introduction of tax credits still get extra payments for their children in their Income Support.

For these families, getting DLA will lead to getting extra money in Income Support. This is the disabled child premium (and an enhanced disability premium if your child gets the highest rate of the care component).

You will need to let the office dealing with the Income Support claim know about the DLA award.

Help with rent and council tax

If you get Universal Credit towards rent, Housing Benefit or support with council tax, getting DLA for your child may lead to extra benefit if you are not already getting your rent and council tax met in full.

If:

• Your disabled child cannot share a bedroom.
• Because of this, the bedroom tax or local housing allowance rules reduce your Housing Benefit.

Then getting DLA care component at the middle or highest rate for them may help you get more Housing Benefit. Or you may get more help with rent from Universal Credit if you are a tenant. Call our freephone helpline for further advice.

Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and support with council tax are means-tested. Any award will depend on your income and circumstances.

There are also other ways of getting help with council tax that don’t depend on income or savings, but do depend on there being a disabled occupant within your household.

Exemption from the ‘benefit cap’

If you have a dependent child (a child aged under 16, or aged 16-19 if part of your family for benefit claims) who gets DLA, you will be exempt from the ‘benefit cap’.

The benefit cap restricts the total amount of benefit payments that an out-of-work family can receive.

Help with transport and getting around

You might qualify for the Blue Badge disabled parking scheme.

You could also get help getting a car via the Motability scheme, paying road tax and discounts on public transport.

See our page on transport and leisure discounts for more information.

Free early education for two-year-olds in England

If you live in England and have a two-year-old who gets DLA, this should mean they qualify for 15 hours a week of free Early Years education and childcare.

See gov.uk for more details.

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Benefits you might be entitled to

Disability Living Allowance

• Claiming DLA higher rate mobility
• DLA and other financial help
• Tips on completing the DLA form
• Payment of DLA for a child in hospital
• Introduction to DLA videos

< Benefits & tax credits