CLAIM DLA

Can you claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA)? If you have a disability, are aged 16 to 64 and have not claimed DLA already then you best get a move on. DLA will be closed to new applicants in the north of England from 8 April and in the rest of the UK from June.

After those dates people with a disability will have to claim a new benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Although similar to DLA, the new PIP will be harder to qualify for and people with the lowest category of disability who can currently claim the lowest rate of DLA care component will not be able to claim PIP at all.

If you successfully claim DLA now it will not last forever. Some time in the three years after October 2015 you will be reassessed on the PIP criteria. And you may lose your benefit then. But if you claim now you could get extra money for up to five years. So it is well worth claiming.

DLA is paid in two categories – care and mobility – and at five different rates.

The two highest rates of care component and both rates of mobility component will be paid under PIP, though the criteria for qualifying will be different and involve a face to face examination. A claim for DLA is frequently dealt with without a face-to-face examination.

The lowest rate care component is paid to people who are aged 16 to 65 and are so physically or mentally disabled that they cannot prepare a cooked main meal for themselves if they have the ingredients. It is also paid to people who need attention from another person with regard to their bodily functions in one or more periods which amount to a significant portion of the day – usually defined as an hour or so in total. If you think you may qualify for this rate then apply now. If your condition is more serious or if you have mobility needs you may qualify for the other rates of DLA. Even the lowest rate is worth more than £1000 a year tax free – well worth having to help with the extra costs of your disability.

You will not be able to apply for DLA from the 8 April if you live in Merseyside, North West England, Cumbria, Cheshire or North East England. You will not be able to apply for DLA anywhere in the UK from June. Instead you will have to apply for PIP which may be harder to get and will involve a face to face assessment.

If you successfully apply for DLA then it will not be taken away from you until October 2015 at the earliest and may continue up to 2018. At that time you will be reassessed for PIP. Many who get DLA will not get PIP.

More information and how to claim DLA: https://www.gov.uk/dla-disability-living-allowance-benefit but ignore the line that says DLA will be replaced by PIP from 8 April. That is not true in most of the UK.

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