To make a new claim for Adult Disability Payment you must be living in Scotland and be aged between 16 years old and state pension age. It has two components, a daily living component and a mobility component, and each component has a standard and enhanced rate. Your needs are assessed to find out which rate you qualify for. You might be eligible to get one or both components.
The assessment looks at what help you need to do specific daily living activities, like getting dressed, preparing and eating a meal, bathing and going to the toilet, because of your condition. The assessment also covers communication, understanding and engaging with others. The mobility part of the assessment covers not just moving around but also planning and following journeys. Points are awarded for each activity or ‘descriptor’ on a sliding scale, from being able to carry out the activity unaided, right up to not being able to do it even with assistance, supervision or prompting by another person. The points are then totalled to see if you qualify for a payment and if so, which component/s and rate/s.
You must have had these care and/or mobility needs for at least three months and expect them to continue for at least another nine months. If you claim before having 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.
Adult Disability Payment can be claimed even if you are a student or working and it is not means-tested, which means your income and savings are ignored when checking if you are entitled to this benefit. 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 Adult Disability Payment you could qualify for extra amounts called disability premiums in some other benefits. It is always worth doing a new benefit check if you become entitled to Adult Disability Payment.
The daily living component is paid at either a standard weekly rate of £72.65 or an enhanced weekly rate of £108.55.
The mobility component is paid at either a standard weekly rate of £28.70 or an enhanced weekly rate of £75.75.
You do not need to apply for Adult Disability Payment if you already get Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment. You will eventually be moved over to Adult Disability Payment and will start getting your payment from Social Security Scotland with no gaps.
You can currently only make a claim for Adult Disability Payment if you live in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross or the Western Isles. Otherwise, you still need to claim Personal Independence Payment while Adult Disability Payment is rolled out to the rest of Scotland.
You'll be able to make a claim for Adult Disability Payment on or after 20 June, if you live in Angus, North Lanarkshire or South Lanarkshire. It will be 25 July, if you live in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, Fife, Moray, North Ayrshire or South Ayrshire. It will be available across the rest of Scotland from 29 August 2022.
If you are in an area accepting claims, you can claim Adult 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.
You will be asked to provide the following details:
- your contact details
- your date of birth
- your National Insurance number
- your bank or building society account number and sort code
You will then be sent a form to fill in to assess your needs and if more information is needed you might be invited to have an assessment with a health professional.
Full details about the claim process can be found on the Scottish Government’s Adult Disability Payment help page.
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