14 February 2024 , 09:33
877
0
Here's a list of 57 health conditions that could qualify a young person for up to £108 a week from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The DWP is urging people who have children with these specific medical conditions not to miss out on this vital financial help. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is given to people with certain disabilities, including those with mobility issues or who need certain care and it used to be the main disability benefit in the UK. Although it has been largely replaced by other benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Attendance Allowance, it was still claimed by around one million people last year.
New claims for the benefit are now only available to children under 16 years in England who have a medical condition or a disability - although adults who originally claimed DLA can remain claiming. We've got a full guide on everything you need to know about how to claim it, how much you'll get, and which medical conditions could qualify you for the money.
How much is DLA?
The amount you receive depends on the disability or medical condition and there are two components to DLA and each one has different levels. There is the care component and the mobility component. Your child can only receive one rate from each component. DLA is paid every four weeks, usually on a Wednesday.
The benefit will be increasing in April 2024 as part of the UK government's 6.7% increase to most benefits announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last November. For the care component for DLA, the rates are:
Six teachers open up on 'difficult' strike decision - and why they are doing it
- Lowest - rising from £26.90 to £28.70
- Middle - rising from £68.10 to £72.66
- Highest - rising from £101.75 to £108.57
The weekly rates for the mobility component are:
- Lower rate - rising from £26.90 to £28.70
- Higher rate - rising from £71.00 to £75.75
How do I know if I qualify for DLA?
Just like other disability benefits, your eligibility for DLA is dependent on how your medical condition affects you rather than the condition itself. This means a broad range of conditions and disabilities can be eligible for DLA. According to the DWP's official guidance, these 57 main medical conditions could make you eligible to claim:
- Arthritis
- Spondylosis
- Back pain – other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Disease of the muscles, bones or joints
- Trauma to limbs
- Visual disorders and diseases
- Hearing disorders
- Heart disease
- Respiratory disorders and diseases
- Asthma
- Cystic fibrosis
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Epilepsy
- Neurological diseases
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Motor neurone disease
- Chronic pain syndromes
- Diabetes mellitus
- Metabolic disease
- Traumatic paraplegia/tetraplegia
- Major trauma other than traumatic paraplegia/tetraplegia
- Learning difficulties
- Psychosis
- Psychoneurosis
- Personality Disorder
- Dementia
- Behavioural disorder
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Hyperkinetic syndrome
- Renal disorders
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Bowel and stomach disease
- Blood disorders
- Haemophilia
- Multi system disorders
- Multiple allergy syndrome
- Skin disease
- Malignant disease
- Severely mentally impaired
- Double amputee
- Deaf/blind
- Haemodialysis
- Frailty
- Total parenteral nutrition
- AIDS
- Infectious diseases: viral disease - Covid-19
- Infectious diseases: viral disease - precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: bacterial disease – tuberculosis
- Infectious diseases: bacterial disease – precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: protozoal disease – malaria
- Infectious diseases: protozoal disease – other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases - other / precise diagnosis not specified
- Cognitive disorder - other / precise diagnosis not specified
- Terminally Ill
- Unknown
It must be reiterated that this list is only an overview of conditions, disorders and diseases. If your child's health condition or disability does impact their day-to-day life and they require more care than a child without the medical condition you could be eligible to claim.
How do I apply for DLA?
You can only apply for DLA if you are under 16. To claim DLA for a child under 16 you need to be their parent or look after them as if you're their parent. This includes step-parents, guardians, grandparents, foster parents or siblings. You can claim Iif your child currently lives in England or Wales.
You can apply by either printing off and filling in the DLA claim form from the DWP website or by phoning the Disability Living Allowance helpline on 0800 121 4600 and asking for a printed form. Find out everything you need to know about applying for DLA here.