Disabled Living Allowance (DLA)
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children may help with the extra costs of looking after an eligible child who:
· Is under 16
· Has difficulties walking, and or,
· Needs more looking after than a child of the same age.
For DLA, there are two components: care and mobility. These are assessed depending on the level of help the child needs. Your child may qualify for one or both of these components.
You will need to provide evidence of your child's needs and the child may need an assessment to work out which components and what level they are entitled to.
To find out more, including the current rates the care and mobility components are paid at visit GOV.UK.
To apply you have two options:
· printing off and filling in the DLA claim form
· phoning the Disability Living Allowance helpline and asking for a printed form
Disability Living Allowance helpline on 0800 121 4600.
Please note that if you call and request a DLA form, if your claim is successful, payments will be back dated to the date you called to request the form.
The charity Contact has a comprehensive guide with a series of videos to help parents fill in the DLA form. Visit Contact's website to find this guide.
If you are unable to complete the DLA form, even after utilising the guide, then the Citizens Advice can arrange for further support for you.
Appeals
Anyone wishing to appeal to Tribunal, for example after a refusal of Disabled Living Allowance (DLA) or an award that may be too low, must take it back to the DWP for Mandatory Reconsideration first. The intention is that at least some appeals could be settled at this more straightforward stage, rather than having to go through the process of Tribunal.
In the case of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the rules have also changed so that for some claimants, ESA will not be paid until later in the appeal process than has occurred up till now.
The decision letter from the DWP, about what has or has not been awarded, should have in it, or with it, information about how to appeal, which has to be done within a month of the date of their decision. If the claimant then does appeal for Mandatory Reconsideration, a different decision-maker will look at it, who may telephone for more information. If after this reconsideration, a reconsideration letter is received and the claimant still wants to go to tribunal, the tribunal will need a copy of the reconsideration letter, in order to go ahead. The Citizen's Advice can help you with your appeal if you need support.