To make a new claim for Child Disability Payment you must be living in Scotland and your child must be under 16. It has two components, a care component and a mobility component, and each component has different rates. Your child’s needs will be assessed to find out which rate they qualify for. They might be eligible to get one or both components.
When assessing a child’s needs, unless they are terminally ill, it is considered whether their needs are substantially more than those of a child the same age who does not have a disability. For this reason, the mobility component can only be paid from age three onwards. The lower age limit for the care component is 3 months or from birth if the child is terminally ill.
For the mobility component, a child must be unable or virtually unable to walk because of their disability. Children who are blind or severely visually impaired, born without feet or double amputees are also eligible. Some children who have severe mental impairment or severe behavioural problems could also qualify.
For the care component, a child’s disability must lead to them needing attention with bodily functions like seeing, eating, communicating, and going to the toilet, or personal care like bathing or dressing. They may also qualify if they need supervision to prevent danger to themselves or others. How often they need this attention or supervision and whether it is during the day and/or night will decide which rate of the payment they might be awarded.
Unless your child is terminally ill, they must have had these care and/or mobility needs for at least three months and you expect them to continue for at least another six months. If you claim before your child has had the needs for three months, an award can be made and start up to three months after the decision, depending on how early you made the claim.
Child Disability Payment is not means-tested, which means your income and savings are ignored when checking if you are entitled to this benefit for your child. It is also ignored as income when calculating entitlement to other benefits so it won’t reduce any other benefits you get. In fact, if you get Child Disability Payment for a child you could qualify for extra amounts called disability premiums in some other benefits. It is always worth doing a new benefit check if your child becomes entitled to Child Disability Payment.
The care component is paid at either a low weekly rate of £28.70, a middle rate of £72.62 or a high rate of £108.55.
The mobility component is paid at either a low weekly rate of £28.70 or a high rate of £75.75.
You do not need to apply for Child Disability Payment if your child already gets Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children. You will be moved over to Child Disability Payment and will start getting your payment from Social Security Scotland with no gaps.
If your child doesn’t already get DLA, you can claim Child Disability Payment online using ‘myaccount’ or you can ask for a claim form to be sent to you by calling Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Find out more about how to claim on the Scottish Government’s Child Disability Payment help page.
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