Disability Living Allowance & Mobility

dawn78

Hi i was informed today that i am entitled to Medium rate carers and Lower rate mobility, and at the moment i am on income support, child tax credit and have my housing tax and rent paid, but now i am worried, as looks like my money is going to change, as even though i will be getting DLA my income support will now stop and also i will have to pay some towards my rent etc now, so wont this mean me claiming DLA has made me no better off, as i would of thought that as i am now a "carer" money would of improved, or do i have this wrong?? thanks for any help!!

lil_me

DLA doesn't reduce HB, IS and CTB payments. Sorry a little confused as to if you are a carer or the DLA claimant, if you're the claimant you are not a carer. Someone may be entitled to claim Carers Allowance for looking after you but then you would loose the 'Severe Disability Premium' on your Income Support if you are claiming it, a bit more of an explanation on premiums.

The Severe Disability Premium

Single rate

If you are single you may get the lower rate premium if:

• you live alone and get the middle or the higher care component of Disability Living Allowance and
• no one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after you.

Couples (higher rate)

If you have a partner you may get the higher rate premium if:

• you both get the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance, or
• you get the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance and your partner gets Attendance Allowance, and
• no one else lives with you, and
• no one gets Carer's Allowance for looking after either of you.

Couples (lower rate)

If you have a partner you may get the lower rate premium if no one else lives with you and:

• the middle or highest rate of Disability Living Allowance care component is paid to both, and Carer's Allowance is in payment for only one of you; or
• you get the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance and your partner gets Attendance Allowance, and Carer's Allowance is in payment for only one of you; or
• the middle or highest rate of Disability Living Allowance care component is paid to the customer; and
• the partner is blind; and
• Carer's Allowance is not in payment to a person caring for the customer.

In this situation the person with the Disability Living Allowance must be the customer.

The Severe Disability Premium can be awarded in addition to other premiums (usually Disability Premium or Higher Pensioner Premium) and can be paid to customer or partner or both.

The Enhanced Disability Premium

Single rate

If you are single and aged under 60, you may be able to get this premium if you are:

• Receiving Disability Living Allowance Higher Rate Care Component; or
• Have dependant children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance Higher Rate Care Component.

Couple rate

If you have a partner you may get the couple rate premium if you or your partner are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance Higher Rate Care Component.

The Enhanced Disability Premium can be awarded in addition to other premiums.

Contact your benefit office, tell them about the award, they will tell you what it will effect and why if you ask them.

dawn78

i rang income support and they informed me my income support will be stopping :O as i will be getting DLA my son has severe learning problems so i will be gettin medium carers and lower mobility, i am really lost as thought i would be a bit better off now or is this not so as i find it sooo confusing lol

lil_me

Sorry I am very confused what you are claiming and why, so the DLA is for your son and not for you? This shouldn't remove your entitlement to Income Support so another change must have effected that? Call them back and try getting some sort of explanation as none of what you are saying makes any sense so far. If in doubt when you have spoken to them contact your local Welfare Rights office, they might be able to make more sense with the correct paperwork in front of them.

dmg24

I am still confused. Are you getting DLA (i.e. do you have health problems), or is your son getting DLA?

Edit: Cross post! x

dawn78

yes i felt very lost when spoke to them, my son has severe learning and communicating and understanding problems, so he has been awarded lower rate mobility and medium rate Care component

when i spoke to income support they said my income support will stop as DLA is classed as a income so they will say, if my DLA is 50 a wk they will take 50 a wk off my income support? maybe i spoke to someone who didnt know what they was talking about but they did say whatever DLA he gets will lower my IS by same amount, i know i am confusing people here lol

dmg24

No, DLA is not classed as income, and they should know this.

I think you need to ring them back and clarify what they said. There should still be somebody there if you can ring now x

lil_me

Phone them back, because what you are saying is wrong. DLA does not class as Income at all. Must have spoken to someone new or something. Inform CTC aswell about the changes, to have the disabled child element added if he's under 16. Also consider applying for Carers Allowance for him, this will reduce your IS in one way as Carer's allowance is classed as income and you would get that directly, but also add a premium, works out over £27 better off. Seriously you sound confused by the process, speak to your local Welfare Rights office or your local Carers Support centre, instead of requesting info on a forum which is probably going to confuse you more, they will check through and make sure you are claiming what you are entitled to.

dawn78

it was only 20 mins ago i called them, see my sister said i will gain the money and it wont affect my rent or income support as the additional 60 odd quid a week is for dane and me to help care for him, so i was so happy to find out i will get additional money a week to help him, but then was gutted once i informed Income Support and the council about this money. The council said the rent will only be stopped if my income support gets stopped, my income support is 51 a week but as they said they will take off whatever DLA my son gets then that means my income support will be gone


Is my sister right in saying that i will gain that 60 something a week and i wont lose any IS etc, maybe i spoke to someone who doesnt know what they are talking about but it was someone in the income support section

lil_me

Like has been said call them back, tell them what you have been told and that you know it is wrong, ask them to go through it again.

dawn78

we will be getting carers allowence which was the medium rate, he did mention about 27 a week, and when i asked him has this process made me worse off money wise claiming DLA etc and he said it may well do