How to be successful in your Disability Living Allowance application.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the main benefit for children under 16 In England and Wales with a condition or disability. DLA helps to meet the extra costs that you might have as a result of your child’s disability.
As a special needs mum, I fully appreciate the dread that arises when the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) form lands on your doorstep. Having had to complete this form several times during the last 13 years, I am always horrified by the length of the Disability Living Allowance application form and the minutiae of detail that is required.
Here, I have put together some good advice which I hope will help you navigate your way around the form and get the best result from your application.
Things to get together before you start
Your National Insurance number, Child Benefit Number and bank details.
A list of the names, titles and addresses of all professionals supporting your child including their school.
A list of all your child's diagnoses and medical conditions and how to define these in simple terms.
A list of aids and adaptations your child uses at home, school or anywhere else. Examples of these are: a walking frame; a commode; a hearing aid; a white cane; PECS cards; a AAC device; a bath seat; a wheelchair; a visual timetable; some ear defenders etc
Keep a diary for a week before tackling the form. Include details of the amounts and types of care your child needs during the day and night. This will be useful when you fill in the form. List all the extra help your child needs compared to an able-bodied and/or neurotypical child of the same age.
You have the opportunity to provide a statement from someone who knows the child well, to endorse that what you are saying is correct. This could be your GP, a paediatrician, a social worker or a teacher, for example. Now is the time to send them a photocopy or scan of the relevant page and perhaps a list of your child's diagnoses and conditions, to give them plenty of time to prepare and return their statement to you. Your DLA payments can only be backdated to the date the DWP receives your completed application so it is in your interest not to delay the application.
Now is a good time to gather together all your child's medical summary letters, test results, school reports, therapy plans and reports etc and to categorise and file them (I prefer chronologically), so you can sift through the easily to pick out information or photocopy them to send as evidence.
Read through the application form first so you have an overview of everything that's needed.
Tips on filling out the form
Remember that a decision on your child’s claim will be made by someone who has never seen your child and who may have little or no medical training or knowledge about your child’s conditions. To get the best result you should name their diagnoses and then paraphrase and explain each condition in simple terms.
It is important that you make clear all the extra care and support that your child needs – don’t assume that the decision maker will already have this understanding.
What to bear in mind
Take your time and don’t try to finish it in one go. The form is long and needs lots of information. The last time I completed the DLA application form it took me 6 full days!
If possible get specialist advice from a welfare benefits adviser or someone else who is familiar with completing the form. This will increase the likelihood of your child being awarded the right level of DLA.
Reading the Information Booklet which comes with the form, and try using the ‘daily diary’ sheet at page 22 of the booklet.
Other organisations that may provide question by question support are Cerebra, Contact and Citizens Advice.
Cross out mistakes rather than using correcting fluid or, if possible, complete the form on your computer so you can keep saving it and correcting it as necessary.
Don’t just rely on the tick boxes. Try to use expanded examples and anecdotes to describe your child’s needs wherever possible and use language that your average person on the street will understand, not just the medical terminology.
Give as much information as possible. There are extra boxes at pages 18 and 36 where you can give more information. You can also attach extra pages of information.
If your child has a fluctuating condition use the terms ‘bad days’ and ‘better days’ to describe the changes in their condition. Using terms like ‘good days’ or ‘normal days’ can imply your child needs no extra help on these days.
Don’t play down your child’s condition. Include a description of their needs on the bad days as well as on better days, so the decision maker has a clear insight into the full extent of your child’s needs.
Say how often your child needs help, rather than how often they get help.
Show how your child’s needs are different to those of other children of the same age. Is your child’s level of competence age-appropriate for different tasks? You can use nursery, school and professionals' reports as well as resources like the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework, Pre-Key Stage 1 Standards, the B Squared Framework comparison chart or Babycentre to describe what level your child is at.
Ask yourself – have you included enough detail to convince someone who hasn’t met your child? The application will be assessed by someone who hasn’t met your child and who may not be familiar with your child’s condition. If they have a rare condition, you may have information about it you can include to help the decision maker understand more.
Include supporting evidence with the form if you have it. This can be medical summary letters, medical reports, speech and language assessments, psychological reports, and a statement of special educational needs – anything that supports what you’ve said in the form. These can be listed in question 25 and 84 and mentioned in your expanded explanations as proof of what you are telling them.
Read through the form several times before you send it. Make sure that you have explained everything in simple terms and included everything possible, backed up with supporting documentation from professionals.
Keep a copy of the form and any supporting evidence for your records. You might need it if you are unhappy with your award and wish to challenge the decision. It will also help you when the claim is due for renewal or if you want to apply for a different rate later on.
The component levels explained
DLA is one benefit, but with two components – the care component and the mobility component. The claim form covers both, so you only need to complete one form.
The care component can be paid at one of three rates – lower, middle and higher, whilst the mobility component only has a lower and higher rate.
It is possible to be awarded any combination of the two components. For example one child may be awarded lower rate mobility and higher rate care, another higher rate mobility and middle rate care, and a third child could get lower rate care only depending on their needs and circumstances.
The care component
The care component of DLA can be paid to a child who needs a lot of extra help with personal care, supervision or if they need watching over. The help they need must be substantially more than the help needed by a child of the same age without a disability or health condition.
The lower rate care component is for children who need help in connection with their personal care for a significant portion of the day (which generally means at least an hour a day – although this does not necessarily have to be all at once).
The middle rate care component is for children that have either daytime or night-time needs (see explanation below). Special rules apply for some children undergoing renal dialysis at least twice per week.
The higher rate care component is for children who have both daytime and night-time needs (see explanation below). Your child will automatically get the higher rate if they are terminally ill.
To satisfy a daytime test your child must need either of the following:
frequent help with personal care throughout the day (ie, several times – not once or twice but three times or more). This would be active help needed because of their disability and includes personal actions and anything to do with the body and how it works.
someone to check on them continually (ie frequently or regularly but not non-stop) throughout the day to make sure that they are safe and to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others.
To satisfy a night-time test your child must need one of the following:
help with personal care at least twice a night, or once a night for at least 20 minutes
someone to check on them at least twice a night, or once a night for at least 20 minutes, to make sure that they are safe and to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others.
Help with personal care needs include help with things like:
dressing and undressing
bathing and washing
using the toilet
getting in and out of a chair
getting in and out of bed and sleeping
walking
communicating
help with medication and treatment
eating and drinking
seeing (ie you need someone to see for you)
breathing.
A child is considered to need someone to check on them if they need to be checked on regularly during the day to avoid ‘substantial danger’ to themselves or others.
The mobility component
If your child needs help getting around they may qualify for the mobility component. You need to show that your child is unable or virtually unable to walk and/or needs substantially more guidance and supervision than a child of the same age without a disability or health condition.
The lower rate mobility component can be paid to a child from the age of five years. It is for children who can walk but who need extra guidance or supervision on unfamiliar routes outdoors.
The higher rate mobility component can be paid to a child from the age of three years. It is for children who are unable, or virtually unable to walk, or where the exertion required to walk would constitute a danger to their life or would be likely to lead to a serious deterioration in their health. Children can also qualify if they have a severe visual impairment, are both deaf and blind, or are severely mentally impaired.
Four factors are taken into account when deciding whether your child is virtually unable to walk. The test is whether their: ‘ability to walk out of doors is so limited, as regards to:
the distance over which
the speed at which
the length of time for which or
the manner in which (they) can make progress on foot without severe discomfort, that (they are) virtually unable to walk.’
To qualify for the higher rate mobility component because of severe mental impairment, the child has to meet all the following criteria:
be entitled to the higher rate care component of DLA
suffer from a state of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain which results in severe mental impairment of intelligence or social functioning
exhibit ‘disruptive behaviour’ which ‘is extreme’ and ‘regularly requires another person to intervene and physically restrain them to prevent them from causing injury to themselves or another, or damage to property’
be so unpredictable that they require another person to watch over them whenever they are awake
Reward yourself when the form is finished. Filling in the DLA form is time consuming, stressful and demoralising but if you get the DLA it will be worth it in the end. Take time to remember all the good things about your child, the joy they bring you and how proud you are of them.
Disclaimer: This blog post and the opinions expressed herein was prepared by the author and Tate Rose Bibs website owner, Susan Wilkinson, in her personal capacity as a special needs mum of a complex needs disabled child. Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of this blog post to ensure accuracy, the author accepts no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information supplied and will not be liable for any loss of time, money or benefits resulting from omissions, inaccurate or out of date information supplied within in this blog post. Any links to external websites have been carefully selected, but are provided without any endorsement of the content of those sites.
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