Disability Living Allowance for children

Mobility 

How Disability Living Allowance for children is paid

DLA is usually paid every four weeks. All benefits, pensions and allowances are paid into an account.

• How benefits and pensions are paid

You might qualify for Carer’s Allowance if you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for a child who gets the middle or highest care rate of DLA.

Eligibility

The information is a guide only. Disability and Carers Service can answer any questions you have about claiming and getting Disability Living Allowance.

Usually, to qualify for DLA the child must: 

• be under 16
• need extra looking after or have difficulty walking
• be habitually resident in Northern Ireland
• be in Northern Ireland when they make their claim
• have been in Northern Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey for at least 6 of the last 12 months, if over 3 years old
• not be under immigration control

There are some exceptions to these conditions if the child is living or coming from an EEA country or Switzerland.

If you and your child are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you will usually also need settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to claim DLA for your child. The deadline to apply to the scheme was 30 June 2021 for most people, but you might still be able to apply. 

• Check if you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme

You can claim DLA for children if you’re in or out of work.

Children under three

A child under six months must have lived in Northern Ireland for at least 13 weeks.

A child aged between six months and three years must have lived in Northern Ireland for at least 26 of the last 156 weeks.

The rules on residence don’t normally apply if a medical professional has said the child might have 12 months or less to live.

The child’s disability or health condition

The child’s disability or health condition must mean one or both of the following apply:

• they need more looking after than a child of the same age who doesn’t have a disability
• they have difficulty getting about

They must have had this for at least three months and expect it to last for at least six months. If a medical professional has said they might have 12 months or less to live they don’t need to have had this difficulty for three months.

Care needs

The rate the child gets depends on the level of looking after they need, for example:

• lowest rate - help for some of the day or night
• middle rate - frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night or someone to help while they’re on dialysis
• highest rate - help or supervision throughout both day and night, or a medical professional has said they might have 12 months or less to live

Mobility needs

The rate the child gets depends on the level of help they need getting about, for example:

• lowest rate - they can walk but need help and or supervision when outdoors
• highest rate - they can’t walk, can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort, could become very ill if they try to walk or they’re blind or severely sight impaired

If your child receives the highest rate, they may be eligible for help from Motability. For more information visit the Motability website.

SMS messages

When claiming DLA you may receive text messages (SMS) from the Department for Communities (DfC). They will always be clearly marked as DfC and will never ask you to give, or click a link to give, personal information or financial details by message or email.

If you’re concerned or unsure about any text messages (SMS) you receive about DLA you should contact Disability and Carers Service directly. If you suspect you have received a fraudulent message as a scam, contact Disability and Carers Service immediately.

More information is available at scamwiseni

Change of circumstances

Changes to their circumstances can affect whether they should get DLA or the amount they get. It is important to contact the Disability and Carers Service.

Disability and Carers Service

Here are some examples of what you need to report:

• a change in their personal details such as name, address or doctor
• they go into a residential or care home
• they go into hospital
• the level of help they need or condition changes
• their condition worsens and they’re not expected to live more than 12 months
• their immigration status has changed if they’re not a British or Irish Citizen

Going abroad to live or visit

You need to report if they go abroad for a temporary period or to live in another country. If their visit abroad is temporary, they may continue to get their benefit paid if:

• their absence from Northern Ireland does not last more than 13 weeks
• they are temporarily absent from Northern Ireland to receive medical treatment, payments can continue to be paid for 26 weeks

If they are going to live abroad permanently it may affect any DLA they get.

If they move to a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and already receive DLA, they may continue to get it under certain circumstances.

You should check the Payment of disability benefits in other European countries

If you use sign language, you might be able to use the video relay service to contact the Disability and Carers Service using British Sign Language (BSL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL). To access the service, go to:

• Disability and Carers Service

How to claim

You can download a claim form, or contact the Disability and Carers Service or your local Jobs and Benefits office.

Contact the Disability and Carers Service

You can email dcs.forms@dfcni.gov.uk and ask to be sent a claim pack by providing your name, address and the type of claim form you require (Disability Living Allowance).

You can also call the Disability and Carers Service and ask to be sent a claim pack.

The date of your email or phone request will be treated as your date of claim from which Disability Living Allowance can be paid, as long as you send your form back within six weeks of that date.

If you delay making a claim, you may lose out on benefit as DLA cannot be back dated.

• Disability and Carers Service

Download a claim form 

Download a claim form using the link below. When you have filled in the form you can either post it to the Disability and Carers Service or hand it in at your nearest Jobs and Benefits office. 

• DLA child claim form and guidance notes - DLA1

Contact your local Jobs and Benefits office

If you ask for a form from your local Jobs and Benefits office, the date of you asking will be treated as your date of claim from which DLA can be paid - as long as the form you receive is returned within six weeks of that date. If you delay making a claim, you may lose out on benefit.

• Jobs and Benefits offices

Other formats

Call the Disability and Carers Service and ask for other formats such as Braille, large print or audio CD.

If the level of help you need or condition changes

If the level of help you need or your condition changes you must report this to Disability and Carers Service.

You can email dcs.forms@dfcni.gov.uk and ask to be sent a claim pack to report the changes by providing your name, address, date of birth of the claimant and the type of claim form you require (for example DLA). You must advise if more or less help is required when you are requesting the form.

The child might have 12 months or less to live

There are special rules if a medical professional has said the child is not expected to live more than 12 months, so they can get DLA more quickly. You must:

• fill in a DLA child claim form - DLA1
• include an SR1 medical condition report with your claim form or send it soon after - these are free and a medical professional such as a GP, hospital or hospice doctor or registered nurse, for example, Macmillan nurses or specialist nurses can fill in the SR1

Once you have made your claim

It normally takes 30 working days to process a Disability Living Allowance claim for a child, from the day the Disability and Carers Service receives your claim form. If the claim is made under the special rules for end of life, it will be dealt with much more quickly. 

You do not need to contact anyone, you will be informed of a decision when one is made.

Appeal a decision

If you disagree with a decision, you must usually ask for ‘mandatory reconsideration’ before you appeal.

If you think a decision about your child’s benefit claim is wrong you can ask the Disability and Carers Service to explain it. You can also ask to have the decision reconsidered and if you're still unhappy, you can in most cases, appeal against the decision.

• Appealing against a benefits decision

Benefit over-payments

There are circumstances when you may be paid too much benefit and you will be asked to repay this. To make a repayment contact Debt Management.

If you require further support, contact Debt Management as soon as possible to discuss an affordable repayment plan and other potential options.

When your child turns 16

Your child will need to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) when they turn 16.

Your child will get a letter inviting them to apply for PIP. The letter will be sent:

• shortly after their 16th birthday
• when they leave hospital, if they were in hospital on their 16th birthday
• about 20 weeks before their DLA award ends, if they were awarded DLA under the rules for people who might have 12 months are less to live

Your child’s DLA payments will stop unless they apply for PIP by the date given in the letter.

If they apply by the date given in the letter, they’ll continue to receive DLA until their claim is assessed.