To apply for DLA for DD when we have a household income of over 300k?

You can apply for a free bus pass/discounted railcard - and it's made so much easier if you have an award. I've had to do this recently, and the recent award I got (Adult Disability Payment - I'm in Scotland) has been something of a gateway to getting these. Also made applying for a Blue Badge easier.

Everything in life is a blunt instrument. The expectation that everything can and should be exactly fair based on a population of 80 million, is a fantasy tbh

If huge amounts of people are claiming (as is the case - claims have ballooned since the pandemic) then in my opinion means testing according to income is not the answer. Means testing is a race to the bottom. How do you justify paying benefit to one claimant, while the next may have a similar level of disability but is over the threshold by a couple of pounds ? You absolutely can’t, which is why disability benefits are universal, rightly so in my opinion.

The solution is a proper examination of the processes involved in determining whether someone is eligible or not. At the moment, as anyone who has been involved with the system either as a claimant or a benefit adviser will know, it’s totally unfit for purpose. DLA used the social model of disability and claims were considered from the point of view of allowing the disabled person to take part in society without their disability putting them at a disadvantage. It was a holistic approach and allowed claimants to say what they would/could do if benefit was awarded. PIP uses the medical model, so concentrates on the effects of the disability or condition, and naturally forces the claimant to concentrate more on what they can’t do, because that’s how eligibility for benefit is determined.

It’s not a question of budgeting for all of the needs of the population. It’s supporting those with genuine, life affecting disability and weeding out those who are only claiming because the present rules allow it. For example, short term or temporary conditions (lasting longer than 12 months) in my opinion should not be supported. Neither should simple health conditions which have little impact. But unfortunately the present system allows this instead of targeting funds at long term or permanent disability - either mental or physical. Until we sort that out and have a proper system of assessment, taking into account the opinions and evidence of properly qualified healthcare professionals, including those actually involved with the claimants, we’ll get nowhere.

So if you introduce means testing for disability benefits - and let’s be clear, they are there to mitigate the cost of disability - where does the axe fall ? How do you make sure that someone who really needs them doesn’t lose out because they are a few pounds over the threshold ? Disability benefits are universal for a reason and before means testing government would have to unravel them as the qualification for a lot of other disability benefits and services.

Don’t be ridiculous. There is no finite ‘pot’ - one persons’ claim doesn’t affect the next person in any way at all, it’s entirely dependent on the effect of the disability or health condition. Her DD is not the one with the income, OP is. OP is claiming for the child, not herself. Do you think parents shouldn’t be able to claim child benefit, or subsidised nursery fees too ? Because if not, your attitude is ableist.

Disability benefits are entirely unrelated to whether the person can work or not. They are there to support vulnerable people with the sometimes huge cost of living with a disability. Disability isn’t a choice and it’s the mark of a civilised society how well we look after those who can’t or have reduced ability to do so themselves. At each and every round of welfare reform disabled people have been at the forefront of cuts because they’re the low hanging fruit - they can’t fight back and are at the whim of whatever government is in power. You think people like living like this ?

Do you have any disability support organisations you can access ? They can help you to identify any extras you may be entitled to. The obvious one is the Motability scheme if either of your children get higher rate mobility.

In my experience (ex outreach worker for the disabled) depending on the level of DLA payable, you can get easier access to the blue badge scheme, concessions and discounts on travel, toll roads/tunnels and bridges, and days out. There are holiday firms which cater for disabled people and will often give a discount for DLA/PIP recipients. VAT relief is available on disability related purchases, depending on the disability, and sometimes proof of a DLA claim is helpful. You can also claim carers allowance for a DLA/PIP claimant, and depending on circumstances there are discounts for council tax/rent, caps on water bills, free prescriptions and disabled facilities grants for adaptations to premises to suit disability. You can also access additional wheelie bins from your LA if you have extra waste due to disability.

The list isn’t exhaustive and there may be other services available via your LA. It’s worth checking out, and a lot of information is available online.

DLA for mental health was limited to conditions which were considered long term substantial mental illness, involving second line consultant led healthcare. But the definition was very narrow and if I remember rightly there had to be evidence that they caused substantial problems with personal care or mobility. It was the Tory government who abolished DLA for working age adults and replaced it with PIP and opened up claims to a much wider range of mental health conditions, both long and short term (dependent on satisfying eligibility timescales) and those which are GP managed. I don’t for one minute suggest that people shouldn’t be able to claim for these conditions if they have a substantial impact on their lives, but it has to be recognised that the benefit bill has ballooned as a result.

Tbf ,the patients on the wards I worked on had long term illnesses such as schizophrenia, Bi polar, schizoaffective disorder etc ,many of which were poorly managed and the patients were severely debilitated by them

DLA could be paid for some mental health conditions from 1996, but the number was much lower. It was generally more for physical disabilities.

I'm.not sure that's right I used to be a mental health nurse I qualified in 1996
Plenty of patients with long term enduring mental illness, s claimed DLA.

Most people I came across professionally (ex disability outreach worker) who could afford to save their disability benefits did so, so that they could afford more than the bog standard and in many cases, unsuitable aids and appliances provided by social services etc. A few managed to save for a rainy day. But trust me, genuinely disabled people don’t waste their benefits. Most of them need them to make ends meet. And by the way - horse riding and other activities are highly recommended for disabled people who can take part, so nothing wrong with that. The benefits can be spent however the claimant wishes and in the best way that supports them - including days out. Guess what, those benefits are there so that disabled people can participate in society on a level with able bodied peers. It’s perfectly acceptable to spend it on a day out if that’s what the person needs.

Spot on. It’s not the child who is earning a high wage, it’s the child who benefits from the state funding. Disability benefits are also the gateway to other disability services and in some cases it’s easier to obtain a blue badge and access VAT exemption.

The disability benefits available - even paid at the higher rates for those disabled enough to qualify - don’t even begin to cover the actual cost

In many cases I’m sure this is true, but look at all the posts on here who receive the benefits and ‘pop them in savings’. I’m seen them spent on days out, horse riding lessons and whatever else on here.

@Rosscameasdoody

Continue to curtail child benefit to two children and stop subsidising nursery fees. If people can’t afford to support their children they shouldn’t be having them. Stop landlords increasing their rents every time the rate of benefit goes up - in fact put a cap on how much rent they can charge to people claiming UC.

Except we have a falling birth rate - below replacement level, 1.49 in 2022 - and an ageing population. The benefits issue isn't going to go away, most money is spent on the elderly and there aren't going to be enough working age adults to pay.

As for OP, we get DLA for DS and are on less than £30,000 a year. Not bothered by OP claiming. There are reasons for claiming that aren't just about the money, though the extra is very useful for us.

Some people are not capable of working as they are too sick/disabled and realistically some may need support throughout their lifetime. Disability is not a lifestyle ‘choice’ and living with substantial disability is expensive. The disability benefits available - even paid at the higher rates for those disabled enough to qualify - don’t even begin to cover the actual cost. So your assertion that benefits need to be ‘short term’ is unworkable. And disability benefits, together with the Access to Work scheme can actually support more disabled people into work and help them retain it.

What needs to be done is a tightening of the system of sickness and disability benefits and a move away from DWP employing private companies to assess for these benefits, and back to suitably qualified and experienced medics who can provide proper evidence based assessments for proof of eligibility. More evidence from consultants and other health teams already involved with claimants needs to be taken into account because at the moment it’s discounted in favour of the assessors’ report, which follows a one size fits all format and is unfit for purpose.

We also need to return to a system where short term/temporary health conditions are discounted for disability benefits. There is a vast difference between a health condition and a permanent substantial disability. In the past only the latter qualified for benefits like DLA, but when the Tories introduced PIP it was expanded to include the former, and also for the first time, to include mental health problems. And before anyone flames me I realise that there are many people claiming for genuinely debilitating mental health conditions, but since the pandemic the number of people claiming for mental health has risen sharply and a lot of conditions are very difficult to prove or disprove. That is what has helped to balloon the benefits bill and it needs to be addressed. Depriving genuinely sick and disabled people of the benefits they need is not the answer - part of the solution lies in reforming the system to be more realistic about disabled claimants’ ability to work, and the level of disability related cost.

There’s no medal for depriving your child of something they’re entitled to.

So by not claiming something your child is entitled to because you think it’s morally wrong, the only person you’re cheating is your child.

I personally couldn't.

This thread is the perfect MN storm. A heady cocktail of high income and disability. Those two potent sources of resentment on MN.

Raising a disabled child is really, really hard work. A privilege, but still hard work. A universal benefit that acknowledges the time and financial costs isn’t too much to ask.

@PAYEohYEAY do you honestly think other people have to explain their finances and home circumstances and choices to you. No. We don’t. If you can’t believe that others behave differently to you then that’s fine. But don’t expect me to keep replying to your repeated tagging of me to explain my way of life and choices to you. I answered the OP. I don’t agree with claiming benefits when it’s not needed. I believe my role is to care for the people I brought into this world and that includes financially. And yes, as some other poster stated. If my child’s needs were so great that they needed more than I could provide for at the time, then yes I would claim. But I will not if I could avoid it.

Brilliant ideas.

As single parent of SEN kids, I am realising that we all need input and ideas too from other people and professionals. We need them to be travel trained, increasingly independent etc. We need our children to cope when we are in our dotage and beyond.

Having DLA and an EHCP up until the age of 25, being known to the services just helps them get the stuff they need to kick off adult life in the best way.

I can wholeheartedly assure zero jealousy here and lol to you thinking I have to justify to you😂get off your high 🐴

You’ve paid your tax, claim it. All these people saying it’s not right; well it’s as simple as you have the right, exercise it. Moral judgment doesn’t come into it: the government says you can, you can.

As I said above, I claimed DLA for my son after he was dropped from the asd paeds - I used it as part of the appeal process to get him reassessed. When I initially claimed for my second son, his nursery got extra funding for SEN when he was approved. It was noted in his EHCP application and it will be vital in my other son’s application. Im am entitled to an additional bedroom rate (in private rental, my LHA pays for a 4 bed when I’m in a 3 bed) - this one is sneaky because you have to really deep dive into UC policy that even the staff are usually unaware of, if you have children who have middle or high rate DLA bedroom rates do not apply in the same way when renting. It helped with my middle son’s blue badge application under hidden disabilities as well (but some councils are really hard about HD).

@Moonshine5 a considered, thought through opinion then? God the hating (jealousy) on high earners on MN is real.