DLA and turning 16

basicallymum123

my son turns 16 tomorrow. he has be in receipt of High rate care DLA for several years. i understood that i had to reclaim as an adult for him when he turned 16 BUT at beginning of this year i had an interview to be made his appointee, this was agreed, in writing, then i had a letter from DWP saying his DLA would end 25/5/2014. great i thought they are continuing it for an extra year. the only other communication i have had over his DLA is updated payments amount when benefits went up.

but now i have had a payment of DLA which appears to run up to his 16th birthday.

i have a couple of questions which i will fret over for next few days until i can phone them.

1. has anyone ever had child DLA extended or automatic renewel to adult on child turing 16 after appointee being made?
2. the letter/aard notice says DLA continues to next year, age 17, can i use this is arguing my case ?
3. what happens to my carers allowance, CTC disability premiums etc if i have to put in a claim now.
4. will i have to claim for PIP or DLA because i will never get forms and medical paperwork before beginning of june?

many thanks

grace

toomuchinfo

Hello Grace
Does the extended award have a new start date on it of the day of his birthday? Will the money after 16 go in to the same account or a different account?

My friend had a blip at 16 where the old award was paid up to the day before her son's birthday, and the new award completely restarted and was paid in arrears. It was a bit worrying until she phoned and they explained. I think it will arrive in your account eventually because you have an award.

My DS will be 16 in July, so I'm expecting a blip too. I had to fill in an adult form and he has now been awarded indefinitely (until PIP). I've been made his appointee and had to open an account in my own name because they won't pay it into a joint account.

I've also heard that Tax Credits go a bit haywire in September because they send out a new award if they stay in school. Don't forget to tell Tax Credits and Child Benefit if he stays in education (DLA people sent me a form to fill in to say that they will tell Tax Credits etc but I'm going to do it myself aswell).

Try not to worry too much until you can phone, but I know this is difficult.

basicallymum123

i haven't filled in an adult form, i had an appointee meeting in fab, followed by a letter making me his appointee and then an award notice until 25/5/2014, i did phone at time and they confirmed this is correct, so was expecting his payments to stay as normal until he was 17. but he had his due payment 2 weeks ago then another payment, for 2 weeks now, coinciding with his 16th birthday, i am hoping this is just a blip and award settles back into 4 weekly payments, but worried as i have never filled in an adult claim, just had the appointee/turning 16 stuff then letter stating award was to run up to 25/5/2014, before it had been going to stop 25/5/2013. so annoying as don't know where i stand.

grace

cheap_charlie

Was in exactly the same situation as you re becoming appointee for my daughter a few months prior to her 16th birthday.

What happens once a child turns 16 is the DLA claim becomes an adult one so you will receive payment up until your child is 16 then a new payment cycle begins as toomuchinfo says. I was a little concerned when this happened but a phone call to the DWP assured me this was perfectly normal. It meant I received 3 weeks money and then 4 weeks after that it was "normalised" again.

I suspect that your award is fine and will be good up until the date in 2014 you mention, with the 25th just being the "end" date of the child claim for DLA.

Had the same issue with CTC as the award was only up until the end of September this year but having informed them my daughter will be staying on at school next year that *should* be okay now.

Try not to worry - it seems to be something that happens with DLA once a child turns 16.