Disability Discounts

dane-katie

I thought it might be nice to have a thread to show what discounts you can get while on DLA.

CEA Card (for the cinema)
http://www.ceacard.co.uk/

Bus Pass (contact your local council)

Disability Rail Card
http://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/

Warm Front Grant
http://www.warmfront.co.uk/

Council Tax Reduction.

Please feel free to add more

Antispam

Possibly free road tax if on higher rate and car is used for the disabled person

Some places give cheap admission to disabled/helpers

jellytastic

ive just booked to go to Hard Rock Calling at Hyde Park 26th June, and my husband as my carer gets to go free, at £50 a ticket thats a great deal.
Went to V Fest a few years ago and he got to go free to that too, also when we go to gigs at Carling Academy (now called O2 academy) he gets to go free as my carer also.
I always ask now if there are any concessions for disabled or their carers and more times than not there are.

Indie_Kid

Councils also offer other travel concessions. In London, I can get my freedom pass, travel tokens, taxicards and dial-a-ride.

College/uni courses free (contact your local college/uni)

Not for DLA - you have to be on means-tested (WTC, IS, ESA (IR) or IBJSA) benefits.

dane-katie

Thanks i will delete that

Molly41

Sorry but I just rang my council and they said that I could not get a reduction in council tax because of DLA - Im on HRC/ HRM. You can if you have adaptations to your home but DLA in itself does not seem to give you a reduction in council tax. Is this right or are my council wrong?

Indie_Kid

Molly41 wrote: »

Sorry but I just rang my council and they said that I could not get a reduction in council tax because of DLA - Im on HRC/ HRM. You can if you have adaptations to your home but DLA in itself does not seem to give you a reduction in council tax. Is this right or are my council wrong?

Council are right. If you have to have wider doorways or a specially adapted room, you can get the discount.

dane-katie

My aunties council give discount without the need to have your home adapted, hmmmm strange one, i will look in to it a bit more.

T--J

Disabled band reduction scheme

The disabled band reduction scheme aims to ensure that disabled people do not pay more Council Tax because they live in a larger property than they would have needed if they were not disabled. Having a disability does not automatically entitle you to a reduction.
In summary, the requirements for a reduction are that the property must be the main residence of at least one disabled person and it must have at least one of:

• an additional bathroom or kitchen required to meet the needs of the disabled person
• a room (other than a bathroom, kitchen or toilet) required to meet the needs of the disabled person, and used predominantly by them
• extra space inside the property to allow for the use of a wheelchair - wheelchairs for outdoor use only are excluded

The room or the wheelchair must also be essential or of major importance to the disabled person's well-being, due to the nature and extent of their disability.
'Disabled person' in this context means a person who is substantially and permanently disabled. The disabled person can be either an adult or a child and does not have to be responsible for paying the Council Tax bill.
An extra room does not need to have been specially built, but your home will not qualify for a reduction unless the 'essential or of major importance' test above is met. Simply rearranging rooms - for example, having a bedroom on the ground floor rather than the first floor - is unlikely to make your home eligible for a reduction.

We have ours reduced by one band because we've converted our garage to a therapy/playroom which is only used by our son.

ShockingPink

We added a new shower room to our house - there's no room for a standalone shower in the bathroom. It was enough to qualify us for the discount.

kingfisherblue

Chester Zoo and the Eureka Museum in Halifax both allow one carer in free when accompanying a disabled person.

Some councils offer a free playscheme for children with disabilities (mine has playschemes for Easter and summer)

In Merseyside, Merseytravel deal with the free bus passes, not the council. Only certain disabilities are covered and everyone needs to have a medical, even if they receive HRM and HRC. Some areas (not Merseyside) also have free passes for carers when accompanying a disabled person.

Carers Centres often have free facilities for carers - courses, holistic therapy sessions, benefits workshops, support groups.

Our Carers Centre also runs the short breaks budget, although in many areas it is run by the PCT. This budget gives grants for short breaks in a variety of forms. In my area, this includes a holiday for the carer, cleaning/ironing/gardening service, year long cinema pass or gym membership, payment of educational courses, or holistic therapies. The two levels of grant are £300 and £600 per year. I only found out about it in December and received the higher grant.