Understanding DLA alongside UC

[HelpHelpHelp567]

I have a few questions and wonder if anyone could help. I’ve been trying to find the answer on Google but there’s so many different answers, I’m getting so confused😂

1. when you receive DLA for your child, will that come with your UC amount? So say I get £1000 a month from UC and get £400 from DLA (random figures), when I get paid my UC it’ll be £1400. Or will I get UC on my usual date and the DLA amount will be sent to my bank account separately?

2. I saw this written on Gov page, ‘You’ll also get an extra amount if any of your children are disabled. You’re eligible for this extra amount no matter how many children you have.
   You’ll get:

• £146.31 if your child is disabled
• £456.89 if your child is severely disabled‘

So does that mean you get this

For God Sakes’s!! Posted way too soon.

…..so does this mean that you get that amount on top of DLA or is that the DLA amount?

3. can someone please clearly let me know the difference between carers allowance and carers element pls? I work 3 days a week so I know there’s one that I don’t qualify for but which one is that?!

Sorry for all the questions but I hope that makes sense. Thank you!

Dla is four weekly and paid separately.

Uc is paid on the same date normally. When you get your dla inform them and they will alter your uc to include the disability premium . This is paid at the same time.

Should be able to answer most of your questions…

1. your UC award and the DLA award will be paid separately.
2. (and 3) you need to declare that you care for a child with health conditions/ disabilities which will then give you the extra £146/£456 you mention. (Think based on the level of the care element of the DLA award). This would then also give you the carer’s element of UC as well. These 2 elements are paid as part of your UC award and they are subject to the normal UC taper rules in terms of your award being effected by your earnings.
3. You are right, you would not qualify for carer’s allowance as you work/earn to much to be eligible.

Hope that helps 😊

@Stomacharmeleon @Mbear thank you both!

So DLA and UC are paid separately, right that’s completely understood. So once your child is awarded DLA, you let UC know and they had include disability premium?

So depending on your child’s award, you’ll either receive £146 or £456 on top of the DLA. Really, are you sure?! It just seems like so much more money.

I couldn’t quality for carers allowance unless I dropped my days at work (which I doubt I would do) but I can still apply for the carers element. How do I apply for that via UC? Do I just let someone know on my journal or go to a change of circumstances or something?

So many questions sorry I’m trying to understand all of this😅

No worries, it can be really hard to navigate and somethings make no sense with the processes and procedures.

Yes, the £146/£456 is paid as an extra UC element.

You need to declare a change of circumstances for your child (you need to do this as there is a question about your child’s health and do they get DLA and what level) and then for caring for someone as it’s not the same as being the main carer for a child (ie the parent). If you log on and get stuck either call UC or pop to your local job centre. Easier to wait a few days to get it right 😊

That’s so helpful @Mbear and makes a lot more sense now. Thank you for your help! X

Hi I’m just wondering how long it takes for dla and universal credit to be back dated I have just got my decision yesterday to say I have been awarded dla this is from a claim from march so it was 16 weeks wait all together I’ve updated universal credit on my change of circumstance but I am awaiting back payment from them and dla just wondering how long other people have had to wait before pack payment money reached their account ?

It's generally pretty quick. Week to ten days tops.

@Emma2345

I found out DS got awarded on Friday 7th and the money was already in my account by Tuesday 11th.

With UC, I think it depends. I did all the changes and asked to be backdated for both carers element and disabled element. They have said that they can backpay one but will need to verify my children first (unsure how long that takes) so I haven’t had any money yet. Some people on FB have got it within a week and some are still waiting months later!

I did have the change made really quickly and I can already see that on my statement this month, I now have the carer and disabled element on there. I’m guessing the backpay takes a little longer!

Hi just wondering if anyone can help me with this my son got accepted for dla last week HRC, this is a claim from the 15th of march had to wait almost 16 weeks for a decision I notified UC of the award which was the 13th July when I notified them as that’s when I got my decision,, my payment circumstances are from the 19th of one month to the 18 of the next I think,, will my child disability element be for example let’s say it’s march £400 April £400 may £400 june £400 in back pay so around £1600 back pay ? and then this month July the child disabled element should go on as normal with my statement and pay or do they not calculate the month you receive the award it’s a bit complicated for me coz I no when I first started claiming uc I didn’t get a payment for around 5 weeks so I’m just wondering if they calculate the payment for the month you was awarded the dla or if they go from April ? Thanks any advice would be really helpful

@Emma2345 you tell them when your dla was granted... from what date... eg March 1st.
They check.
They backdate it and you go on to get it too.

At the moment I would say 16 week decision fairly swift. There is a huge backlog.

@Stomacharmeleon ok Thankyou and I thought 16 eeeks was a really long wait ahaa I think it’s the not knowing more then anything where as if we’re told you’ve been awarded but going to take 16 weeks to process I think the wait wouldn’t seem as bad but 16 weeks with a chance to be turned down is why it feels like a life time of waiting 😂😂

@Emma2345 my eldest has been waiting a year and a half for his renewal now he is an adult so I know! The wait is a killer!

@Stomacharmeleon it really is and wow a year and a half is a massive amount of time to wait! Hopefully it won’t be much longer now

@Emma2345 do you have Facebook? There’s a DLA support group on there and I’d definitely recommend posting your query on there

@Emma2345 I forgot to say that you can also start your own thread for more engagement or comment on the DLA support page on here

@Emma2345 not sure if you’re still seeing comments but I hope the below helps.

I found out DS was awarded on Friday 7th of July. Straight away I did a change of circumstances to add the disabled and carer element. It was looked at and approved by Monday. I receive a payment tomorrow and the disabled and carer element is on there already. So they still add it to the month that you’ve been awarded.

They will only backpay you if you’ve requested this via your journal, I’m guessing you’ve done this? I requested a back payment on that same Friday, didn’t hear anything back to left a message asking for an update. I then received a letter on my journal within two hours saying it had been approved. They’ve also confirmed how much money I’ll be getting. Judging by the comments on Facebook, as soon as you get the letter the money goes into your account really quickly like the DLA backpay. I’m hoping it’ll be with me by Friday.

I can’t confirm how much you’re backpay will be as it depends on any earnings that may have been deducted. If your child gets HRC then your disabled element will be £414.88 a month. Your carer element will also be £185.86 a month so the amount you get back may be a little more (depends on any earnings so don’t quote me). Carer element is different to carers allowance so make sure you’re also getting the carer element.

Lastly, click on the below link to report a missed Disability Cost of Living payment. My scan date was 20th of March so I was only a few days behind you. I found out on the FB group that we were still eligible to receive a payment even though we didn’t know our children were awarded DLA until afterwards. I filled in the form on Saturday 8th of July and received £150 in my account this morning.

It was really simple all you need is child’s full name and date of birth. Don’t need to give any sort of explanation as to why/how you missed the payment.

https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/report-a-missing-cost-of-living-payment/welcome

I hope that helps! X

@HelpHelpHelp567 Carer’s Allowance is classed as income and your universal credit will be reduced each time, so you’re not going to gain anything by going for that. You can just stay with universal credit carer’s element instead. There’s something on Government Gateway where you can register for NI, if that’s what you’re thinking of

Yep I know that now thank you:)

My son has just been awarded hrc and I've applied to uc for for disability child element, I can't be his carer as I am my older sons carer , just seen a lot about carer element in the uc ? Don't know if I should be asking for this also ? So much to understand 😩

Hi just looking for a bit of info
my daughter has been accepted for high rate care after a mandatory reconsideration from the 21st feb 2023
I’m about to make a change of circumstances on my uc
i am in the non related work activity group due to my own illness
Does anyone know if declaring my child’s disability will it have an effect on my claim?
I don’t want to be dragged through meeting ect atm because I’m just not well enough TIA x

@Mumofgirlsxxx it didn't on mine.

Hi, you should be able to be backdated with the disabled child element from UC if you request it. If you do not get the Carer’s element for your oldest son from UC then you should be able to claim it for your other child and can request a backdate payment for that also.
Hope this helps.

It's separate, so eg for mid rate care needs and lower rate mobility needs you'd get 400 every 4 weeks alongside an extra 140 with universal credit