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Issues - Benefits

As a parent, you are providing most of the extra care and attention that your disabled child requires, you are meeting most of the additional costs linked to disability, and often you are trying to bring up other children and run a home.
No benefits will compensate you for all of this; all they will do is help towards a better quality of life than there would be if you did not receive them.
Information on benefits, which many people have aright to, is available from a variety of sources (see below).
Because it is often difficult to actually apply for benefits, because of the rules and conditions which must be met especially in relation to Disability Living Allowance and Carer's Allowance, it is suggested that applicants get support from any of the agencies mentioned.

Association of Independent Advice Centres (For details of your local advice centre)	Tel: 028 9064 5919
Benefit Enquiry Line	Tel: 0800 2206 74
Carers Northern Ireland	Tel: 028 9043 9843
Disability Living Allowance (Enquiry line)	Tel: 028 9090 6182

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the main benefit available to parents of disabled children to help them meet their child's additional care and/or mobility needs. When applying for this benefit, it helps to keep records of the type of the disability and for how long and when care is needed, as well as details of mobility problems.

The benefit is broken down into:

(a) the care component

(b) the mobility component.

The care component is then broken down into three different parts:

Lower

Middle

Higher

depending on how much care is needed and whether it is needed during the day, or night, or both.
There is no lower age limit for the DLA care component. For DLA mobility component – children can get the higher rate of mobility from age three and the lower rate from age five.
Three different amounts of benefit are paid out, with the highest being paid for the most amount of care.

The mobility component is broken down into:

Lower Rate

Higher Rate

with the Higher Rate paying out more money where the disability impacts the person's mobility in a more severe way.
Blue Badge (formally Orange Badge) is a scheme that allows you to park your vehicle in areas where usually you may not – near shops, the hospital etc – if you have your disabled child/young person with you and you meet certain conditions.
Your child must be: disabled, over two years old, along with you in the car, and in receipt of the mobility component of DLA.
The Department for Regional Development is responsible for issuing the badges, which contain the photograph of the disabled child/young person. Application for the badge must include verification of the disability, usually from a doctor.
Road tax exemption for your car can also be applied for at a Local Vehicle Licensing Office. Application forms for the Blue Badge are available from:

Disabled Persons Badge Scheme Department for Regional Development Castle Barracks Wellington Place Enniskillen BT74 7HN Tel 028 6634 3700

Carer's Allowance is available to carers to help towards caring costs, but there are rules about the amount of hours a parent is allowed to work and how much income they are allowed to earn.
You must care for your disabled child for more than 35 hours per week and your child must be receiving the DLA care component at the middle or higher rate. You cannot earn more than £84.00 per week (net).
Further information on this benefit can be obtained from Carers Northern Ireland or through your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

 

Social Fund is a government fund to help people in need. To be eligible you must be on certain benefits and there are certain conditions. Further information is available from the Benefits Office or Citizen’s Advice Bureau. There are some regulated grants such as Sure Start maternity grants, which are available if you are eligible, but most of the grants are discretionary. Discretionary payments are usually for items you cannot afford out of weekly benefits and these can be in the form of grants or interest free loans. There are three main types: community care grants, budgeting loans and crisis loans. As this area can be quite complex, it is advisable to get information from local advice centres or benefit offices.

Tax Credit – Working Tax Credit is means tested. This means that whether you get it (and if so, how much you actually receive) depends on your income. It is for working people on low incomes. As a parent, you or your partner must be working at least sixteen hours per week and your child/young person must be under sixteen (or under nineteen if in full-time education).

Child Tax Credit is available to anyone with a dependant child. If you have disabled children/young people, you may be entitled to more. It is paid in addition to Child Benefit. Whether you work or not, you can apply for this benefit. Check what the earning limits are, currently they are quite high. Couples must make a joint tax credit application.
Information on Child Tax Credits is available from:

Inland Revenue Office

Tax Credits Helpline

Online at www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk

Child Benefit is not means tested and is paid for all dependant children up to the age of sixteen (or nineteen if in full-time education).
Information on Child Benefit is available from:

Inland Revenue Office

Benefits Office

Citizen’s Advice Bureau/Resource Centres/Advice Centres

Hospital Fares can help with cost of travel to/from hospital, and some appointments to help you bring your child for treatment. This help is available if you receive Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance or Pension Credit. Information is available from Benefits Office, advice centres or hospitals/clinics.

NHS Benefits such as prescriptions, glasses and dental treatment are available to those who qualify. Check with Benefits Office, advice centres, chemists, opticians or dentists for further details.

Family Fund Grants are currently available from the Family Fund, to families with disabled children under sixteen years of age. Grants are only accessible to families whose earnings are under a certain amount so check with the Family Fund. However this organisation are fully aware of the cost of disability and these costs are considered in each grant application. Grants can be for a variety of items; each application is assessed on its merits, but can include holidays. Contact the Family Fund for further information.

Sure Start Maternity Grants, valued at £500, are available for those who:

are on income support

are on income based Jobseekers Allowance

receive Child Tax Credit awarded at a rate higher than the family element (or higher family element if you are responsible for a child under one)

receive Working Tax Credit where a disabled worker is included in the assessment at the time of the claim

are an Asylum Seeker, receiving support from the National Asylum Support Service

Information and application forms can be obtained from your local Benefits Office, ask for Form SF 100. A claim can be made from the eleventh week before the baby is due and up to three months after the birth.

 

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