DLA & Other benefits

[Raine3]

I have just read on www.parentscentre.gov.uk that if you get full DLA you are entitled to free car tax ??? ..... and that you can get up to £60 off your gas/elec winter bill if a member of your household is on full DLA - 0845 601 2006 ... got to be worth looking into

Just as an afterthought you would think that when you are awarded DLA they would give you some sort of booklet telling you what you are entitled to .... I had to give up my job when DS was 18 months, to look after him and to be able to meet all his appointments.

I do get carers allowance and DS gets full DLA but I am still at least £10.000 a year worse off ... of course the mortgage company don't care a toss !

My point is these benefits can be a lifeline to a lot of families

.... sorry for going on a bit but there's more

If you earn less that £23.000 per household and have a disabled child you can apply for funding for things like washing machines / specialist toys & equipment / holidays (Haven) trampoline (to wear them out) take a look ... www.familyfund.org.uk

Lastly I am told (by a mother of a DS) that when DS is 3yrs old I can apply for a mobility car and up to £30.000 in renovations to your property if DS would be easier to care for on ground level !

Ok I will shut up now !

You may also be eligible to discounted water rates, I will give the thread a bump.

Oh and I would love to hear more about the winter fuel rebate, as I thought that was only for the elderly.

you can also get your house insulated/boiler repaired if someone in the house gets full dla and your area has those 'warm front' grants

Hi, sorry that number is for British Gas

This is for British Gas & Electric, but even if you are using another provider it may be cheaper if you swap ?

"British Gas is offering a Winter Rebate scheme to their customers who receive
benefits including Disability Living Allowance, Carers Allowance, Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disability Allowance, Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income Based JSA, Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance, War Disablement Allowance/Pension.

Households buying gas and/or electricity from British Gas, where SOMEONE IN THE HOUSE receives these particular benefits, are eligible for the following rebates:

Gas £60 a year paid in 2 instalments - £30 in the last quarters bill in 2006 and £30 in the first quarters bill in 2007.

Electricity £30 a year paid in 2 instalments - £15 in the last quarters bill in 2006 and £15 in the first quarters bill of 2007.

Families need to phone 0845 601 2006 and have their British Gas and/or British Gas Electricity account number available. Registration is simple and effective for Autumn 2006 - Call 0845 601 2006

we tried to get the warmfront grant for insulation and were told categorically that it has to be the homeowner/renter who gets DLA and as my dd is disabled we didn't count. I believe the tax disc rebate is if you get high rate mobility DLA and then you have to apply to show that the car is more or less for the sole use of the disabled child.

If you get the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA, you will need an exemption certificate to get free car tax.

Contact the agency below and ask for exemption certificate DLA 404.

Disability and Carer Benefits Directorate
Disability and Carers Service
Warbreck House
Warbreck Hill
Blackpool
FY2 0YE

Tel: 0845 712 3456

Hearing impaired Minicom users:

Tel: 0845 722 4433

It looks as though you may be right Hangingbellyofbabylon .... but we live in hope !

warm front details: www.warmfront.co.uk/do-i-qualify.htm - it says householder must receive DLA ie, not the child.

sorry, raine3, was not trying to prove a point! just got so frustrated when warm front even arranged an assessor to come round then told us we didn't qualify.

have just gone over to british gas so will get dh to ring them later - anything would help.

That's ok, I would rather know than waste my time looking ...

We had insultation installed by warm front and they also installed a new larger access hatch in the rear roof.

However they will not repair our central heating boiler without us having a 7 year long tenancy agreement or longer and I can't think of anyone how has a tenancy agreement for that long a term.

I have written to them multiple times about it, as it seems mad that the funds are tied to the house, but are not able to be used to meet needs, however they will not move on it.

Complete and utter maddness!

how who

looks like the british gas winter fuel rebate no longer exists either and is no a social tarrif aimed at those with pay as you use meters.

~Riven - did you qualify for warm front on any of the other benefits? we only get carers and dla and so didn't. I think I might ring them up again as it would really help. Everytime I hear about these benefits we seem to be excluded - I've just been turned down for funding for a SN trike so am about to start the hunt for funding again.

It's like trying to get blood out of a stone, I think they expect you to give up at the first hurdle so it's worth hanging in there.

Graciefer - thanks for that, I saw your thread and I'll get onto it on monday morning ... I'll let you know on your thread if it works out

Just as an afterthought I seem to recall that if you have a room in your house set aside for a disabled person / or their equipment you can claim a reduction on your council tax, I don't know the particulars but you should be able to get a form from your local County Council office, again they will probably try to fob you off but just ask for the form and then decide.

Yes, the British/Scottish gas rebate has been discontinued but has been replaced by a 'social tarif' if you meet the criteria (eg DLA for child counts) but it's not just for meter users so worth chasing up, as it's makes quite a difference.

Hi reiver .. thanks for that ..... looks like I have a lot of phone calls to make in the morning !

I was just trying to find out more about winter fuel rebates when I found this ...

www.cafamily.org.uk/pdfs/Checklist.pdf

If you scroll down to page three it gives a 'rather long' list of benefits for the disabled / blind and so on.