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

We are in exactly the same position. We claim it and use some of it for our autistic DC and save the rest. I feel completely fine about it!

If they can, they should.

OP can.

We have zero hope of ‘budgeting’ for the sheer amount of ‘need’ the population now have. It far outstrips anything we can realistically provide. We have so many people claiming it’s actually frightening.

If she is entitled to it that is fine. The point is it is to do with the extra cost of having a disability and is not means tested. If her disability doesn't, in fact, cause you/her to have extra costs associated with it, then your claim is likely to be rejected. If there area extra costs associated with her disability then, you are covering them. I could spend £20 a week on my son, £10 for his daily needs, and put £10 away for him. You could spend £20 a week for your daughter and spend £10 on her normal daily costs and £10 on extra disability related costs. She would not be getting the money put away that my son was because you were needing to spend the extra money on her disability related costs each week. That is unfair.

And what is your suggestion if that person may never be capable of working or only a minimum amount? It is not expected of parents to need to financially or physically care for their children beyond childhood, those who may need a lifetime of care have to be recognised from a young age so the government themselves can account for future benefits budgeting.

The welfare bill is terrifying and even Labour have admitted it needs to be brought under control.

I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number of posters on here who think these are moral issues and not financial.

And you think, with successive changes of government, benefits offer stability for life? Absolutely no reason why they can’t stash 100 quid a week away for her, and claim if it goes tits up and they end up skint. This ‘why can’t I/they have it’ attitude is why we are up shit creek without a paddle. We can’t afford to financially mitigate the individual circumstances of every person.

@Milesandmilesandmiles we’re also high earners and claim high rate DLA for our child. We put money into a trust for their future each month (whether this is the DLA or money freed up from the DLA is moot in my opinion - it all goes into the same pot). I also claim carers tickets where we can. Having a child with a disability is very, very expensive, particularly when there is very little access to things like speech and language therapy or physio on the NHS. I’ve never claimed any other benefit in my life but I feel zero guilt about this one.

It can be a lot more than £50 a week !

The issue is when something like DLA or PIP starts being means tested it means those just over the cut off are the worse impacted and face the biggest knock on from it.

Being disabled costs more. That is fact and that is why the government acknowledges it with DLA/PIP. It may be harder to absorb the costs if your low income but irrespective of income it still comes at a cost

I’ve DM’d you as similar circumstances. Happy to chat about our reasons and the feedback we received from DWP etc when claiming for our DD.

Yep, can sleep perfectly well thanks. Me claiming doesn't affect you claiming.

Wealth and privilege that may not always be available and certainly may not be something she may be able to earn like her parents have. DLA is for her to recognise what may be a lifetime of struggle due to disability that may hinder her from personal economic development through no fault of her own. Her parents can’t magic up disability support simply from having good jobs. If people like David Cameron could recognise that, why can’t you.

Too bloody right.

I've applied too, I expect my DC will be awarded Lower Rate. That's less than £1250 per year. To put it into context, I paid almost £30k in tax last year. So why shouldn't I get a fraction of that back? If it makes you feel better, see it as a 'tax relief' on some
of the masses of tax you pay.

I’ve been there. I actually applied for my second child first and felt almost silly applying for my eldest. It was absolutely the right thing to do - his needs grew so much in the following couple of years and as I said above it has been a godsend in using as evidence of his needs without having to go through all the hard paperwork that DLA entails. ‘My son has been deemed as High Rate Care from DLA so why are you not recognising this’ - shit that it has to come to that but at least it’s in place for him. It is a bloody struggle, and it’s made harder by people like on here simply not understanding what a fight every day can be from every bloody direction - you’re doing great and don’t have a moment of doubt or guilt!

Her DD has enough, she’s been born into wealth and privilege. This isn’t equity, it’s greed.

There are 2 streams of thought here.

1, what you can legally do.
2, what you can morally do.

Yeah you’re ‘entitled’ to it but could you sleep at night knowing our country is skint and you’re claiming an extra £50 a week that you can easily, easily afford yourself to put away for her?

@LostTheMarble

Thank you for that comment. It actually made me cry, so I suppose I must have some guilt there after all! It's all just such a struggle to get any support.

Yes apply as pp says the money is for your daughter and as a child she has no other income. Whether you can afford her disability costs or not is irreverent,dla is meant to cover the extra costs of having a disabled child putting you on the same financial position as another family with a £300k income without a disabled child.

Personally i would

DLA is for extra costs incurred due to disability. You incur these costs, therefore you are entitled to claim.

If you want to save money for her, do that from your income.

You should claim what you're entitled to IMO. Everyone else does.

Good, you shouldn’t. You’re doing the right thing by your child and their future.

That award was made 17 years ago. Rules have changed and DLA now stops at 16 for new applicants. They do not do infinite awards anymore and if couldn't therefore happen to OP in any case.

We are a higher income family but not quite as high as yourselves. We claim DLA as it's a gateway benefit in many respects, it can make getting a blue badge easier if needed, access to sen passes or quieter sessions at days out. Even school took us more seriously once he was awarded. Whether it's true or not I don't know as we are many years away but I was told it can help when applying for pip if they have already had a DLA award.

We're high earners and are going through the process of applying for DLA. I feel no guilt whatsoever. We pay an extortionate amount of tax and receive zero other benefits.

The rules have changed. Every child who’s in receipt of DLA has to apply for PIP once they’re 16 (18 in Scotland I believe). It’s because often things are quickly changeable with children’s needs. I can easily evidence my son hasn’t cognitively developed since he was two and they only gave an 18 month award last time I applied due to this reasoning. Hopefully it will be recognised that he needs high care for a long time when I have to do his third application this winter.