Live-In Carers and Severe Disability Premium?

marymaree · 30 September 2019 at 2:16AM

Hi MSE Forums,

Hope someone here can clarify something for me.

Can anyone tell me what happens to a disabled person's severe disability premium if they have a formal paid carer living in their home?

My partner's brother is disabled, and receives the severe disability premium as part of his benefits. His condition is getting worse, so he is going to start having a formally paid live-in carer living at his house soon, but I've heard that for him to be living with another "able bodied" adult would impact on his SDP.

Can anyone here tell me how the SDP works when the disabled adult receiving the premium has a live-in carer, who does not claim Carer's Allowance for the recipient, but instead gets paid to care through the council/social services and the SDP recipient has to pay the council a contribution towards the cost of that care.

Can't find a straight answer anywhere online, so I expect this is a grey area, but I'm hoping someone might know through experience. I feel like it would be odd for the DWP to take the SDP away from someone who needed a level of care that required a formally employed live-in carer, especially if they were contributing towards the cost too, but who knows. Hope someone can clarify things for us.

Any help/advice would be useful, thank you!

poppy12345 · 30 September 2019 at 6:52AM

His SDP would stop because the criteria for the SDP is that the disabled person lives alone or is classed as living alone. As they live alone then caring for theirself is more difficult so they would be entitled to extra money. As they would have a live in carer then they would no longer be living alone.

nicetomeetyou · 30 September 2019 at 7:42AM

I like in supported housing with staff on site all the time and I still receive the disability premium.

[Deleted User] · 30 September 2019 at 7:44AM

nicetomeetyou wrote: »

I like in supported housing with staff on site all the time and I still receive the disability premium.

Not the same thing. Supported housing, with your own room, is not the same as sharing your living space with someone who is your carer.

poppy12345 · 30 September 2019 at 7:57AM

Looking further into this and at the decision makers guide. The decision maker will decide where the carer normally resides. Will the carer have a separate address or will they be registered as living with your brother in law? If they have a separate address, how often will they use it? what address will they be registered at for council tax?

See DMG and scroll down to 23219 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811535/dmgch23.pdf

marymaree · 30 September 2019 at 3:39PM

Thanks for all the info.

Am I right in saying, if he loses the SDP due to having someone live with him, he'd still be entitled to the regular disability premium and enhanced disability premium top up?

poppy12345 · 30 September 2019 at 6:37PM

marymaree wrote: »

Thanks for all the info.

Am I right in saying, if he loses the SDP due to having someone live with him, he'd still be entitled to the regular disability premium and enhanced disability premium top up?

Answered here on your other thread. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6053831

Please try to keep all these questions about premiums to the same thread because it gets confusing when asking the same question on 2 different threads.

Live-In Carers and Severe Disability Premium?

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