Thousands of people in the UK could be eligible for more than £200 a month in extra benefits.
Disability premiums are extra benefits which can be added to your normal benefits every month, if you satisfy certain criteria.
The additional payments range in value depending on your eligibility, but whether you're single or a couple, if you qualify you will still be entitled to some extra cash which could be a huge boost in the run-up to the busy Christmas season.
Here's what you need to know about disability premiums including how you qualify and how much you can get.
What are disability premiums?
Disability premiums are extra amounts of money added to your weekly income-related benefits. They are given to those earning:
- Income support
- income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA)
- income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)
- Housing benefit
There are three types of disability premium for adults; disability premium, enhanced disability premium and severe disability premium.
To be eligible for disability premiums, you or your partner must be under pension credit age and either registered blind or getting:
- Disability living allowance (DLA)
- Personal independence payment (PIP)
- Armed Forces independence payment (AFIP)
- Working tax credit with a disability element
- Attendance allowance
- Constant attendance allowance
- War pensioners mobility supplement
- Severe disablement allowance
- Incapacity benefit
To qualify for severe disability premium, you must get the disability premium or income-related ESA, and one of the following qualifying benefits:
- PIP daily living component
- AFIP
- DLA care component at the middle or highest rate
- Attendance allowance (or constant attendance allowance paid with industrial injuries disablement benefit or war pension)
You usually cannot have anyone aged 18 or over living with you unless they get a qualifying benefit; they’re registered blind; they’re a boarder or subtenant (but not a close relative), or they make separate payments to the landlord.
You cannot get the severe disability premium if someone is getting carer's allowance or the carers element of universal credit for looking after you.
If you do not qualify, you may still get the premium if you’ve been unable to work for at least a year.
To get enhanced disability premium, you must be under pension credit age, be getting the disability premium or income-related ESA, and one of the following:
- PIP daily living component at the higher (‘enhanced’) rate
- AFIP
- DLA care component at the highest rate
You’ll also get this if you’re in the support group for income-related ESA.
You can get more than one premium at a time. You usually need to be eligible for the disability premium to qualify for the severe or enhanced premiums. If you get income-related ESA you can only get the severe or enhanced premium.
What will I get?
You can get the disability premium on its own, but you might get the severe or enhanced disability premium as well if you’re eligible for them.
If you're getting the disability premium, you'll get £35.10 a week for a single person or £50.05 a week for a couple.
If you're getting the severe disability premium, you'll get £67.30 a week for a single person £134.60 a week for a couple if you’re both eligible. This equates to £269.20 per month if you're single or £538.40 if you're a couple.
You’ll get the higher amount of severe disability premium if both you and your partner are eligible, but you can get the lower amount if someone gets carer's allowance or the carers element of universal credit for looking after only one of you, or if only one of you meets the eligibility criteria and the other is registered blind.
If you're getting the enhanced benefit, you'll get £17.20 a week for a single person or £24.60 a week for a couple if at least one of you is eligible.
How do I claim disability premiums?
You do not have to apply for disability premiums. If you are eligible, the extra money will be added to your account automatically.
If you're not getting it and you think you should be, you can contact your local JobCentre Plus by searching for your nearest office here.
Can I get disability premium if I'm claiming universal credit?
Disability premium does not exist on universal credit, which replaced the older income-related benefits (income support, JSA, housing benefit etc) mentioned above. However, you might get an extra amount of universal credit if you have a health condition or disability that prevents you from working or preparing for work.
When you apply for universal credit, you’ll be asked if you have a health condition or disability that affects your ability to work. If you do, you’ll be asked to complete an assessment form and provide medical evidence.
You’ll then be told if you need an appointment for a work capability assessment. This is to see how much your illness or disability affects your ability to work.
From February 2021 if you are receiving severe disability premium and you have a change in your circumstances, you may move onto universal credit.
You will be eligible for transitional payments to make sure you don’t lose money when you move. This is known as transitional protection, and you can find out more about that here.
To get the latest email updates from WalesOnline click here.
