Claiming Disability Benefits Financial help if you're sick or disabled ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claiming Disability Benefits was originally written by Paul Lewis, a freelance financial journalist. If you would like this leaflet in another format, such as large print or audio tape, please contact the Information Resources Team on 020 7278 1114. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents Section 1. Which benefit – AA or DLA? Section 2. Attendance Allowance (AA) Section 3. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Section 4. Claiming AA or DLA Section 5. Carer’s Allowance Section 6. Incapacity Benefit Section 7. Working Tax Credit Section 8. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Section 9. War Pensions/Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Section 10. Other sources of financial and practical help Section 11. Useful contacts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The information given in this leaflet is accurate from 07 April 2007 until 5 April 2009. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this leaflet is correct. However, things do change, so it is always a good idea to seek expert advice on your personal situation. You can check whether there have been changes by calling SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (textphone 0800 26 96 26). If you are in Northern Ireland call 0808 808 7575. Although many people continue to enjoy good health well into old age, some people find that they need help with daily living. You may need help with walking or getting about, with personal care, such as dressing and washing, or with your hearing or sight. You may find that these needs lead to extra expense. You could get money to help with these costs. This leaflet gives details of benefits for older people who are sick or disabled. For information on other benefits such as Pension Credit, see our free advice leaflet, Can You Claim It?. The rules about benefits are complicated. If you are in any doubt call our free advice service, SeniorLine, on 0808 800 6565 (textphone 0800 26 96 26). If you are in Northern Ireland call SeniorLine on 0808 808 7575. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section 1. Which benefit – AA or DLA? The two main benefits for disabled people are: * Attendance Allowance (AA) and * Disability Living Allowance (DLA). AA and DLA are tax-free. They are not means-tested and receiving one should not reduce your other benefits. In fact, you may be entitled to claim more benefits, or your other benefits may be increased. If you would like to talk to somebody about your entitlement to benefits call our free advice service, SeniorLine. Which of these disability benefits you claim depends on your age – you cannot claim both. Both AA and DLA give you extra money to help with the costs of your personal care. DLA also has a ‘mobility component’ to help with getting around. Are you under 65 years of age? If you need help with personal care or if you have difficulty getting around, you can claim DLA. Are you aged 65 or over and making your first claim? You can claim AA for help with personal care. But you cannot get help with mobility. See section 2 for more information. Were you receiving DLA before your 65th birthday? If so, you should continue to get DLA if you need help with personal care, rather than claiming AA. You will only be able to get help with mobility if your problems began before you were 65. Special rules for people who are terminally ill If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness (and a doctor certifies that you are unlikely to live for more than six months) you can claim the highest rate of AA or DLA care component at once – without meeting any other qualifying condition. If you know someone who is terminally ill, and they haven’t been told, you can claim for them without them knowing. Under special rules, AA or DLA will usually be awarded for a fixed period of three years. When these three years have passed, you will be asked to renew your claim. You still need to pass one of the disability tests to get the mobility component of DLA. If your prognosis changes so that you no longer count as terminally ill, the decision can be superseded. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 2. Attendance Allowance (AA) If you are 65 or over and you need help with personal care, you should normally apply for Attendance Allowance (AA). There is no upper age limit. You can claim AA if you need help with personal care from another person or if you need someone to supervise or watch over you. You do not have to be actually getting help from anyone. What is important is that you need help. You must normally have needed this help for six months. If it has not yet been six months but you are likely to continue needing help for some time, claim now so that you can get AA as soon as you are entitled. If you are diagnosed as terminally ill and claim AA under the ‘special rules’ you will automatically get the highest rate, usually for a fixed period of three years, without needing to fulfil any other conditions. Higher and lower rates There are two rates of Attendance Allowance. The amount of AA you receive depends on how much help and the type of help you need. You are not automatically entitled to AA because you have a particular illness or disability. Higher rate: £67 per week To qualify for the higher rate you need to fulfil certain conditions for help during the day and the night. These conditions are explained over the next few pages. Lower rate: £44.85 per week To qualify for the lower rate you need to fulfil the conditions for help either during the day or during the night. There are special rules for some kidney dialysis patients to help them qualify. Our information sheet no. 3, Attendance Allowance, gives more details. Help during the day The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that to qualify for AA by day you must: * need frequent attention throughout the day in connection with your bodily functions; or * need continual supervision throughout the day to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others. When you send off your claim form, a DWP decision-maker will look at it and decide whether you meet either of these conditions. You must fully meet one of them to get your benefit – it is not enough to partly fulfil both. The DWP will aim to give you a decision within 39 working days (this does not include weekends or bank holidays). The words used by the DWP in these conditions mean quite specific things to the decision-maker. These meanings are given below. For the first condition: * ‘frequent’ means that you need help frequently and throughout the day. It means you need help several times during the daytime, not just once or twice. * ‘attention’ is usually hands-on help from another person to do the personal things you cannot do yourself. The attention you need must be in relation to your bodily functions. But it can also mean encouraging or prompting: for example, if you have dementia, you might need prompting to dress or take your medication, even though you are physically capable of carrying out these tasks. You should mention this on your claim form. * ‘bodily functions’ are, for example, eating, drinking, hearing, seeing, using the toilet, getting up, washing, dressing,communicating or taking medication. But it does not usually include general household tasks such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. For the second condition: * ‘continual’ does not mean non-stop; it usually means regular or frequent but with breaks. * ‘supervision’ means that someone oversees or watches over you. You must need this supervision to avoid the risk of ‘substantial danger’ to you or another person and you need to say what this danger might be: for example, you may have dementia and be at risk of leaving your cooker on and starting a fire. Even if you only occasionally find yourself in a dangerous situation, you may still need continual supervision: for example, if you have epilepsy you could be likely to have a seizure at any time, even though there are long periods when you are fine. You need not have ever caused danger to yourself or others as long as there is a real risk of this happening and the danger is not too remote a possibility. In both cases: * ‘throughout the day’ means in the middle of the day as well as in the morning and evening. But you do not have to need attention or supervision all day or every day. It is the pattern of care needed over a period of time which is important. Remember, it is the need for care that is important. You do not have to be receiving help to qualify. Help during the night The DWP says that to qualify for AA by night you must: * need prolonged or repeated attention in connection with your bodily functions; or * need another person to be awake for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals for the purpose of watching over you to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others. You must fully meet one of these conditions to get your benefit. Again, the words here have specific meanings: * for the first condition, ‘prolonged’ usually means periods of 20 minutes or more and ‘repeated’ is usually twice or more. * for the second condition ‘frequent intervals’ usually means at least three times. You do not have to need attention or supervision every night. It is the pattern of care needed over a period of time which is important. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 3. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) To claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) you must apply before your 65th birthday. There are special rules for people who are already claiming DLA when they turn 65. See 'Continuing to Claim Disability Living Allowance after 65' below for more information. DLA is divided into two parts: * ‘care’ component – for people who need help from others to cope with their personal care and daily living tasks * ‘mobility’ component – for people who have difficulty walking or getting around. You can qualify for either the care component or the mobility component separately, or you can qualify for both. DLA care component You can claim the care component if you need another person to help with personal care or to supervise or watch over you because of your disabilities. You do not have to be actually getting help from anyone. What is important is that you need help. The amount of benefit you receive depends on how much help and the type of help you personally need. You are not automatically entitled to DLA because you have a particular illness or disability. To qualify you must have needed the help for three months before you claim and you must show that you expect to need the help for six months after you claim. But if you are diagnosed as terminally ill and claim DLA under the ‘special rules’ you will automatically get the highest rate, usually for a fixed period of three years without fulfilling any other conditions. There are three rates of DLA care component. Highest rate: £67 per week To qualify for the highest rate you need to fulfil the same conditions as for the higher rate of Attendance Allowance. Middle rate: £44.85 per week To qualify for the middle rate you need to fulfil the same conditions as for the lower rate of Attendance Allowance. Lowest rate: £17.75 per week The DWP says that to qualify for the lowest rate of DLA care component: * you need help with your bodily functions from another person for a significant portion of the day; or * you cannot prepare a cooked main meal for yourself if you have the ingredients. In the first condition, ‘significant portion of the day’ usually means about one hour. You may need help just once or a number of times as long as the total time is around an hour or more. For the second condition it doesn’t matter if you do not normally cook. What is important is whether you are able to carry out all the tasks normally involved in planning and cooking a meal for one, such as peeling, chopping, lifting, using the cooker or taps – and do so safely without requiring help. If you can prepare a cooked main meal for yourself on some days but not on others you may still qualify. DLA mobility component You can claim the mobility component of DLA if you have difficulty walking or getting about. You must have had mobility problems for the three months immediately before you claim and expect to have the same difficulties for six months afterwards. People who are terminally ill and claiming under the ‘special rules’ do not have to fulfil either of these qualifying periods, but they do have to fill in the questions that cover mobility in the claim form. Mobility component is paid at two rates – higher and lower. - Higher rate: £46.75 per week To qualify for the higher rate you must be unable to walk, virtually unable to walk, or face serious danger to your health or life from the physical exertion of walking. You should qualify for the higher rate if you can walk but find that doing so causes you severe discomfort; and if you are very limited in the distance you can walk, the speed you can walk, the time you can walk for, and the manner in which you walk. The DWP will take into account ability to walk using artificial limbs or aids, if you normally use any of these. Some people will automatically qualify for the higher rate. They include people under 65 who are: * without both feet or legs, either from birth or due to amputation; or * both profoundly deaf and blind; or * severely mentally impaired with extremely disruptive and dangerous behavioural problems and getting the highest rate of the care component. If you are claiming for the higher rate of the mobility component because you are both deaf and blind, you will be referred to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) doctor who will assess your hearing loss and loss of vision. Motability is an organisation which helps people who are claiming the higher rate mobility component of DLA, or the War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement, to purchase or lease a suitable car, powered wheelchair or scooter. Your DLA may not cover all the costs. You may have to pay a deposit or for the cost of adaptations. And you will have to pay for some of the running costs. Check exactly what you will need to pay before committing yourself. For more information contact: Motability City Gate House 22 Southwark Bridge Road London, SE1 9HB. For enquiries about the purchase or lease of a suitable car call 0845 456 4566. For enquiries about purchasing or leasing a powered wheelchair or scooter call route2mobility on 0845 607 6260. More information about the scheme is available on its website at www.motability.co.uk - Lower rate: £17.75 per week To get the lower rate of the mobility component you must require guidance or supervision from another person when walking outdoors in unfamiliar places. This could be because of a mental health problem or a physical disability: for example, you may need someone who can help you if you become disorientated or have a panic attack; or you may be blind and need someone to help you avoid obstacles and cross roads. The lower rate of the mobility component is different from the higher rate. It is not based on your physical ability to walk: for example, if you have pain when you are walking, but do not qualify for the higher rate of the mobility component, you will not necessarily be eligible for the lower rate. Our free advice leaflet, Keeping Mobile, gives further details on equipment you can use and help available for people with reduced mobility. Continuing to claim DLA after you are 65 If you are aged 65 and over, need help with personal care and are claiming for the first time, you should claim Attendance Allowance. If you were already getting DLA before your 65th birthday you should continue to be paid DLA. When you turn 65, there are some special rules you need to note (see below). Help with personal care * If you are already getting DLA care component when you reach 65 it will continue to be paid. If your care needs increase, you can apply for a higher rate. If your care needs decrease you can go from the highest rate to the middle rate but not to the lower rate. * If you are getting DLA mobility component when you turn 65 and you now need help with personal care, you should claim the care component of DLA rather than AA. If your care needs started after your 65th birthday, you can only get the highest or middle rate of the care component. Help with mobility needs * You cannot get help with your mobility difficulties if they started after your 65th birthday. * If you are receiving DLA mobility component when you turn 65 you can continue to claim it. But you can only stay with the rate you got before you were 65; you cannot move up or down a rate. * If you were getting DLA care component before you turned 65, you can claim the mobility component after your 65th birthday, but only if your mobility difficulties began before you were 65. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section 4. Claiming AA or DLA To claim AA or DLA for the first time, ring the Benefit Enquiry Line free on 0800 88 22 00 (textphone 0800 24 33 55) for a claim pack. If you are in Northern Ireland call 0800 22 06 74 (textphone 0800 22 06 74). The form will be date-stamped. You should fill it in and return it within six weeks. If your claim is successful your benefit will be paid from the date on the form. If you prefer, you can ask for the form to be filled in for you over the phone and then posted to you. You will then need to check it carefully and sign it. If you are going to get your form filled in over the phone it is a good idea to get some advice beforehand. Make sure you have had time to think about your disability and how it affects you, and prepare what you are going to say. You can ask for someone to visit you to fill in the form if you can’t use the phone. AA and DLA are not means-tested, so it doesn’t matter how much money you have coming in each week or how much you have in savings. Getting AA or DLA won’t mean that you get less Pension Credit or less help with your housing costs. In fact, it may increase the amount of Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit you can get. If you have been turned down for these benefits before, you might be entitled to them if you get AA or DLA. See our free advice leaflet, Can You Claim It?, for more information. Filling in your form You can increase your chances of getting AA or DLA if you get some help filling in your claim form. Ask for help from your local Citizens Advice Bureau, disability organisation or an advice centre. If you need the address or phone number of a local advice agency call SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland). The DLA form is very long and comes in several parts. The AA form is shorter, but you still need to allow yourself plenty of time to fill it in. What you say on the form is very important. Try not to play down your disability – don’t think something is too trivial to mention. It’s also important to remember to write down the help you need, not the help you actually get. You may find it useful to keep a diary for a few days before filling in the form. Time how long it takes you to do things and make a note of all the tasks that you need help with. It is quite reasonable to say that you need help if a task takes you a very long time to do or is a real struggle. This will help you to fill in the form in as much detail as possible so the decision-maker has a good idea of what help you need. If you would like more information on claiming AA see our information sheet no. 3, Attendance Allowance. When considering your claim, the DWP may ask your doctor, social worker, occupational therapist, or someone else who knows you, for more information about your disability, or a DWP doctor may visit you. If you are terminally ill you do not need to fill in all the sections of the form. You should read the notes in the claim pack on claiming under the ‘special rules’. Keep a copy of your claim form. It could be useful if you want to appeal or ask for a revision. Appeals and awards If your claim for DLA or AA is turned down, or if you get a lower rate than you think you should, you can ask for the decision to be revised or appeal against it. But you must act quickly, within one month, and it is important to seek advice. Contact SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland) or a Citizens Advice Bureau. AA or DLA can be awarded for a fixed period or be ‘indefinite’. Six months before the end of a fixed-period award you will be asked to renew your claim. Even an indefinite award may be reviewed by the DWP if it has evidence that the award was wrong, or if your circumstances have changed. You should always seek advice if this happens. Court decisions in the past few years mean that more people, especially those who are deaf or blind, may now qualify for DLA and AA than in the past. So you should consider applying even if you have been refused before. Claiming for another person Normally the person claiming the benefit must sign the claim form themselves, although anyone can help them to fill it in. But in certain situations somebody can claim benefit on their behalf. If the person who needs the benefit is terminally ill and is not aware of their condition, somebody else can claim on their behalf under the ‘special rules’. The benefit will still be paid to the claimant but they need not know what has been put on the form or that they are claiming under the ‘special rules’. If the person needing benefit is not mentally capable of making decisions about their affairs, or they are so ill or disabled that they are unable to sign the form, another person such as a friend or relative can be appointed to act on their behalf. This person is called an appointee. To become an appointee you need to speak to the DWP, which can then authorise you to act for the claimant. If the person acting on the claimant’s behalf has a registered lasting power of attorney or receivership, they do not need to apply to become an appointee. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 5. Carer’s Allowance You may be entitled to Carer’s Allowance (CA) if: * you spend at least 35 hours a week looking after a disabled person; * the disabled person you look after gets middle-rate or highest-rate DLA care component, AA (at both rates), or Constant Attendance Allowance (of £54.80 or more, paid with War Disablement Pension and Industrial Injuries Benefit); * you work, but earn no more than £95 a week once allowable expenses are deducted; and * you pass the UK residence and presence tests, and you are not subject to immigration control. Getting CA affects other benefits in a complex way. If you qualify for CA it can increase your entitlement to Pension Credit and other means-tested benefits. But it is important to know that in some cases it can make the person you care for financially worse off. Check with SeniorLine or your local Citizens Advice Bureau to see whether this applies to your situation before you make a claim. CA is £50.55 a week and is taxable. If you are under pension age and get CA you will also get a National Insurance credit each week. This can help you qualify for a pension at retirement age. Carer’s Allowance is one of a group of income replacement benefits, which can’t usually be paid at the same time. These benefits include State Retirement Pension, contribution-based Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance or Widow’s and Bereavement Benefits. This is known as the overlapping benefits rule. So, for example, if you are getting your State Retirement Pension you may find that you will not get paid CA even if you meet all the requirements. But if you get a reduced pension (that is, less than £50.55), and qualify for CA, you should get some CA to ‘top up’ your pension to £50.55. This does not apply to DLA or AA; you can claim either of these benefits at the same time as claiming CA. If you meet the requirements for CA, but don’t get it because you are getting a benefit which it cannot be paid with, it may still be worth making a claim. This is because the DWP will acknowledge that you have an ‘underlying right’ to it. This means you may get more money as part of your Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit (rate rebate in Northern Ireland) or Pension Credit. This is because you will get an additional amount of £27.75 when these benefits are worked out. For more information on CA see our information sheet no. 5, Welfare Benefits for Older Carers, or get advice from SeniorLine or a Citizens Advice Bureau. How to claim: you need to ask for form DS700 or DS700 (SP) if you get a State Retirement Pension. Contact your local benefits office or the Carer’s Allowance Unit on 01253 856123 (in Northern Ireland call the Disability and Carer’s Service on 028 9090 6186). You can also download a copy of the claim form from Directgov, by visiting its website at www.direct.gov.uk You can also call the Benefit Enquiry Line for a claim pack. If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, call 0800 88 22 00. If you live in Northern Ireland call 0800 22 06 74. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 6. Incapacity Benefit If you cannot work due to illness or disability, you may be able to get Incapacity Benefit (IB). You must have paid enough National Insurance contributions, and your Statutory Sick Pay must have ended or you are unable to get it. If you are under State Retirement Pension age, and get an occupational, personal or public service pension, your IB may be reduced, but any other income or savings will not affect your benefit. There are two tests for incapacity. For the first 28 weeks (if you have been working recently) you will have to pass the Own Occupation Test, which looks at your ability to do your usual work. The test is based on medical certificates provided by your doctor. After 28 weeks, or if you have not been working recently, you will have to pass the Personal Capability Assessment, which assesses your ability to do any work. There are three different rates of IB: For the first 28 weeks of being unable to work you can claim short-term IB (lower rate – £63.75 per week), or you may get Statutory Sick Pay from your employer. After 28 weeks you claim short-term IB (higher rate – £75.40 per week). After 52 weeks you claim long-term IB (£84.50 per week). You can’t claim IB after reaching pension age. However, if you are already receiving short-term IB when you reach pension age you can keep getting it at a special rate for up to a year if: * your incapacity started before you reached pension age; and * you have deferred your basic pension or Married Woman’s Pension. You cannot get long-term IB after pension age. You cannot get any IB in addition to your State Retirement Pension. The rules for IB are too complicated to cover in detail here. If you are unable to work because of illness you should seek advice from SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland) or a local Citizens Advice Bureau. How to claim: you need to call a Jobcentre Plus contact centre. You can get this number from your local Jobcentre Plus office. The contact centre will go through the claim form (SC1) with you over the phone and send a copy for you to sign and return. If you find it difficult to use the phone, you can ask for a claim form to be sent to you instead. You can also claim online at www.dwp.gov.uk/eservice In addition to form SC1, if you have been in employment you must also fill in form SSP1, which you get from your employer, whether or not you have been receiving Statutory Sick Pay. From October/November 2008 Incapacity Benefit will be replaced by Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). However, this will initially only affect new claimants. Anyone claiming Incapacity Benefit at the time that ESA is introduced will not be transferred on to the new scheme until April 2010. At the time that this leaflet was written there was no information available on how or whether benefit rates would be affected by this. Your local benefits office should be in contact with you about these changes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 7. Working Tax Credit If you are working for at least 16 hours a week you may qualify for Working Tax Credit (WTC) from HM Revenue & Customs to top up your earnings. We do not go into the rules here but you can find out more from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or call the Tax Credits helpline on 0845 300 3900 (textphone 0845 300 3909). You can apply for WTC by filling in form TC600. Call the Tax Credits helpline to request a form. If you have dependent children living with you, you may be entitled to Child Tax Credit. Call the Tax Credits helpline for more information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 8. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit If you are injured at work or develop a disease because of your work, you may get Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. The amount depends on the degree of your disability and ranges from £27.36 to £136.80 a week. You have to be assessed at least 14 per cent disabled to receive any benefit, except in the case of a few specific diseases. There is no age limit to claiming disablement benefit. Industrial Injuries Benefits are tax-free. If you cannot do your usual job or other work with similar pay because of your accident or disease, you may be able to claim Reduced Earnings Allowance. Your accident or disease must have happened or developed before 1 October 1990. You must also be assessed as being at least one per cent disabled. You must be under pension age to get it and the maximum payment is £54.72 a week. Once you are over pension age (unless you are still in ‘regular employment’) you will be transferred to Retirement Allowance, providing you Reduced Earnings Allowance is £2 or more. The maximum payment is £13.68 a week. If your disablement arose due to work entirely before 5 July 1948, you will have to claim under a different scheme which applies only to a limited list of industrial diseases. You need to contact the Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation scheme. Its contact details are in the Useful contacts section. If you were a coal miner and developed chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or vibration white finger, you may be able to claim compensation from the Government. If you claimed for pneumoconiosis in the past but were told by the benefits office that you did not have the disease, ask them to have a look at your claim again. Its decision may have been wrong and you may get back-dated benefit or compensation. For more advice, get in touch with your trade union or Citizens Advice Bureau. How to claim: contact your local Jobcentre Plus office. You can also call the Benefit Enquiry Line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 9. War Pensions/Armed Forces Compensation scheme If you served in the Armed Forces or nursing and auxiliary services before 6 April 2005, you may be entitled to a pension for a disability or illness linked to that service, whether caused by enemy action, by injury or by disease. If your disability or illness came about after 6 April 2005, you need to claim under The Armed Forces Compensation scheme, which has now replaced the War Pensions scheme. The Armed Forces Compensation scheme is different from the War Pensions Scheme because it is intended to compensate members of the Armed Forces who have developed an illness or a disability, or died, as a result of service in the Armed Forces. The War Pensions scheme remains in place for people with existing awards before 6 April 2005. If your hearing was damaged, you may find it very difficult to get a War Pension. If you are in this situation get advice from the Royal British Legion (its contact details are at the end of this section). You could also contact RNID and ask for a copy of its factsheet, War pensions and priority health treatment for veterans. Apart from people in the Armed Forces, there are five other groups which may be able to claim a War Disablement Pension under The War Pensions scheme. To find out more details of these, contact the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. Its contact details are listed below. The amount of War Pension you get depends on how severe your disability is; it is assessed on a percentage basis. People who are less than 20 per cent disabled normally get a lump sum. People who are assessed as over 20 per cent get paid a weekly pension. There are also a number of extra allowances and you may be able to get help with medical treatment and care. If your claim is because of a hearing loss, you need to be assessed as having at least a 20 per cent loss. To get 20 per cent, your average hearing loss must be 50 decibels (dB) or more in each ear. War Pensions are tax-free but they can affect other benefits. If your husband or wife died as a result of their service you may be able to get a War Widow(er)’s Pension. How to claim: Write to the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, Thornton Cleveleys FY5 3WP, quoting your full name and National Insurance number or call the Veterans Helpline on 0800 169 2277 (textphone 0800 169 3458). Its website is www.veterans-uk.info If your claim is refused, there is a right of appeal. The Royal British Legion will help you with a claim or appeal if you have a service connection. You can contact it at: 48 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JY. Tel: 0845 772 5725; web: www.britishlegion.org.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 10. Other sources of financial and practical help Local council social services If you need practical help because of your disability you can ask your local social services department (social work department in Scotland or local health and social services trust in Northern Ireland) for a care assessment. This may provide you with a range of services and equipment or adaptations to meet your needs. If you are a carer you can have a carer’s assessment of your needs. For more information on getting practical help from social services and voluntary organisations, see our free advice leaflet, Help in Your Home. Local council Direct Payments scheme If you are eligible for services though your local council, whether for yourself or as a carer, your local council has a duty to offer Direct Payments to most people. Direct Payments allow you to buy your own services with money provided by the local council. That way you can make your own choices about who cares for you and how the money is spent. There are different rules on Direct Payments depending on which UK country you live in. For more information see our free advice leaflet, Help in Your Home, or contact your local social services department. The Independent Living Fund The Independent Living (1993) Fund works in partnership with local councils to help severely disabled people pay for care services in their own home, by creating joint care packages. To qualify, you must live alone or live with people who are unable to fully meet your care needs, be aged from 16–65 and be receiving or about to receive care services from your local council to the value of at least £320 per week, if you live in England, Wales and Scotland (currently £200 per week if you live in Northern Ireland). You must also receive the highest rate of DLA care component and have less than £18,500 in savings. Your care needs should be stable and expected to be met by the joint care package for six months. Your care needs should not exceed £785 Contact your local social services department (social work department in Scotland or local health and social services trust in Northern Ireland) to see if you qualify. The Government is planning to change the way the Independent Living Fund works in the future, but we have no further details at the time of printing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 11. Useful contacts Alzheimer Scotland 22 Drumsheugh Gardens Edinburgh EH3 7RN Dementia Helpline: 0808 808 3000 Web: www.alzscot.org.uk Provides general information to people with dementia, on benefits which may be able available to them. Alzheimer’s Society Devon House 58 St. Catherine’s Way London SW1P 1PH Helpline: 0845 300 0336 Web: www.alzheimers.org.uk Provides general information to people with dementia, on benefits which may be available to them. Department for Work and Pensions Benefit Enquiry Line (disability benefits) Tel: 0800 88 22 00 (0800 22 06 74 in Northern Ireland) Textphone: 0800 24 33 55 (0800 22 06 74 in Northern Ireland) Carer’s Allowance Unit Tel: 01253 856123 (028 9090 6186 in Northern Ireland) Service Personnel and Veterans Agency helpline Tel: 0800 169 2277 Textphone: 0800 169 3458 Tax Credits helpline Tel: 0845 300 3900 Textphone: 0845 300 3909 If you need a form or help in Welsh call 0845 302 1489. Carers UK 32–36 Loman Street London E1W 1JX CarersLine: 0808 808 7777 Web: www.carersuk.org.uk DIAL UK St Catherine’s, Tickhill Road Doncaster DN4 8QN Tel (voice and text): 01302 310 123 Web: www.dialuk.info DIALs provide information and advice to disabled people. Look in the phone book for your local branch using the address above: Disability Alliance Universal House 88–94 Wentworth Street London E1 7SA Tel (voice and text): 020 7247 8776 Web: www.disabilityalliance.org Disability Alliance produces The Disability Rights Handbook, a comprehensive guide to benefits for disabled people. It costs £21 (£14.50 to requests from individuals who receive a benefit). Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section Phoenix House Stephen Street Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria LA14 1BY Tel: 01229 842841 Pneumoconiosis and Workmen’s Compensation Section helps individuals, with certain conditions, whose disablement arose before 5 July 1948. RNIB 105 Judd Street London WC1H 9NE Helpline: 0845 766 9999 Web: www.rnib.org.uk RNIB can advise people with sight problems on disability benefits. RNID 19–23 Featherstone Street London EC1Y 8SL Information Line: 0808 808 0123 Textphone: 0808 808 9000 Web: www.rnid.org.uk RNID produces factsheets on disability benefits for deaf and hard of hearing people.