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Understanding Disability and Sickness Benefits

Find information on disability and sickness related benefits.

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There is a wide range of financial support you may qualify for if you have a disability.

Disability and Sickness Benefits

Some benefits you might get are:

  • Universal Credit

  • Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

  • Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

  • Support for Carers

  • Attendance Allowance

  • New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Find out more information on disability and sickness benefits on the GOV.UK website [External Link]

Universal Credit:

Universal Credit is a monthly payment to help with your living costs. You may be able to get it if you're on a low income or out of work.

You might get an extra amount of Universal Credit if you have a health condition or disability that limits how much work you can do. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refers to this as your 'capability to work'.

Your monthly payment is based on your circumstances. for example your health condition or disability, income and housing costs [External Link].

Personal Independence Payment

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit for people aged 16 or over. You do not get taxed on it. It can help you with extra costs that come with being disabled. These include making food, leaving your home and socialising. You can claim PIP no matter how much you earn or have in savings. To find out more, visit the GOV.uk PIP page [External Link].

Disability Living Allowance for Adults

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for Adults is a benefit that can help you with the costs of having a disability. It is for people aged 16 or older. It is slowly being replaced by other benefits such as PIP. If you have a DLA claim already, this will continue until the Department for Work and Pensions contact you. To find out more, visit the GOV.uk DLA for Adults pages [External Link].

Disability Living Allowance for Children

DLA for Children is a benefit that can help with the costs of having a child with a disability. This is for children aged under 16. The child must also have a disability that means they need more looking after than others their age. To claim this the child needs to meet all the eligibility criteria. The amount you can get depends on the needs of the child. For more information, visit the GOV.uk DLA for children pages [External Link].

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has made a series of videos about DLA for Children. They cover the four stages of claiming the benefit. This includes making a claim and what happens when the child turns 16. To find out more, watch the DLA for children videos on YouTube [External Link]. To watch the videos in BSL, visit the DWPsign DLA for Children playlist [External Link].

Employment and Support Allowance

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can support you if how much you can work is affected by your disability. It can help you with money if you are unemployed as well as support you to get back into work if you can. You can still claim this if you are currently working. To find out more, and to see if you are eligible, visit the GOV.uk ESA pages [External Link].

Support for Carers

Carer's Allowance

Carer's allowance can support you while looking after someone. You have to care for someone for at least 35 hours to be able to claim the allowance. There is a lot of other criteria you must meet, for example the person you care for has to already be claiming a disability benefit. To see all the criteria and to find out more, visit the GOV.uk Carer's Allowance pages [External Link].

Carer's Credit

Carer's Credit is a National Insurance credit. This means that your state pension won't be affected if you can't or have to reduce how much you work due to caring for someone. You must be caring for someone for at least 20 hours a week to claim this credit. For more information, visit the GOV.uk Carer's Credit pages [External Link].

Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance helps with extra costs if you have a disability or health condition severe enough that you need someone to help look after you.

It does not cover mobility needs.

There is a different way to claim if you're nearing the end of life [External Link] (for example, because you have a life-limiting illness).

New Style Employment Support Allowance

To get New Style ESA you usually need to have been working within the last 2 to 3 years, and have made (or been credited with) Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions. This can be through employment or self-employment.

If you're not sure how much National Insurance you've paid, you can check your National Insurance record online [External Link].

Click the link to apply for New Style ESA [External Link].