BENEFITS AND FINANCES AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN CONSIDERATIONS
MAIN TYPES OF BENEFITS • DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE (DLA) • PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS (PIP) • DISABLED STUDENTS’ ALLOWANCE (DSA) • EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE (ESA)
DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE DLA is a tax free (non means tested) benefit for people with disabilities who need help with mobility or care costs • NB. Since the 20 June 2016 PIP has started to replaced DLA for those aged 16 to 64. Those aged 16 or over cannot now apply for DLA DLA has two components: • Care Component • Mobility Component
ELIGIABILITY Usually to qualify for DLA a person must • Be under 16 • Need extra looking after or have mobility difficulties • Be in Great Britain, another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland, when the claim is made (some exceptions apply such as for family members of the armed forces • Have lived in Great Britain or Northern Ireland for 2 of the last 3 years (if the person is over 3 years old) • A person under 6 months old must have lived in Great Britain or Northern Ireland for at least 13 weeks • A person aged between 6 months and 3 years must have lived within Great Britain or Northern Ireland for at least 26 weeks of the last 156 weeks
THE DISABILITY OR HEALTH CONDITION The person’s disability or health condition mean that at least one of the following applies:- • They need much more looking after than a person of the same age who does not have a disability or health condition; and or • They have mobility difficulties They must have had these difficulties for at least 3 months and expect them to last for at least 6 months. If they’re terminally ill (that is, not expected to live more than 6 months), they don’t need to have had these difficulties for 3 months.
THE COMPONENTS • Care component • The rate the person gets depends on the level of looking after they need, for example: • lower rate - help for some of the day or night • middle rate - frequent help or constant supervision during the day, supervision at night or someone to help while they’re on dialysis • higher rate - help or supervision throughout both day and night, or they’re terminally ill • Mobility component • The rate the person gets depends on the level of help they need getting about, for example: • lower rate - they can walk but need help and or supervision when outdoors (virtually unable to walk in unfamiliar places unaided) • higher rate - they can’t walk, can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort, could become very ill if they try to walk or they are blind
.PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS PIP is a tax free (non means tested) benefit for people with disabilities who need help with mobility or care costs Only those aged 16-64 can apply PIP has two components or parts • Daily living • Mobility
. ELIGABILITY Usually to apply for PIP a person must • Be aged 16-64 • Have a disability or health condition which means a person has difficulties with daily living and/or mobility • Those difficulties have lasted 3 months and are expected to last at least 9 months (unless terminally ill) • Have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years and be in one of these countries at the time the application is made • Different rules apply in Northern Ireland, for those coming from EEA countries, for those living abroad and for those that are not British citizens
THE DISABILITY OR HEALTH CONDITION Disability is defined within the Equality Act 2010 • S6(1) Equality Act 2010: (1) A person (“P”) has a disability if – (a) P has a physical or mental impairment, and (b) The impairment has a substantial and long term adverse effect on P’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities. • Long term is defined as having lasted, or being likely to last, for 12 months or the remainder of P’s life
THE COMPONENTS OR PARTS Daily Living Component A person will need help more than half of the time with such activities as:- • preparing or eating food • washing, bathing and using the toilet • dressing and undressing • reading and communicating • managing your medicines or treatments • making decisions about money • engaging with other people Mobility Component A person’s ability to carry out the following activities will be limited: - • Planning and following journeys • Moving around Each component is split into 2 rates, standard and enhanced
HOW THE DECISION IS MADE • A health professional will carry out an assessment of a person’s ability to undertake a range of daily living activities and mobility activities • A report is then produced for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) • A decision maker at the DWP will then make a decision regarding entitlement, rate and duration • If the DWP decision maker decides a person’s ability to carry out the component is limited, they will be awarded the standard rate. If they are severely limited, they will be awarded the enhanced rate • A person’s ability to carry out each activity is measured against a list of standard statements describing what they can or cannot do. These are known as the descriptors. The health professional will advise the DWP which descriptors are applicable • Each descriptor carries a points score ranging from 0 to 12. The DWP decision maker will decide on the point score to be applied to each relevant descriptor • The points are then added for each component • For each component 8 points is required for standard rate and 12 points for enhanced rate
Disabled Students’ Allowance • DSA is a tax free (non means tested) allowance for disabled students. • It is designed to assist with the additional costs a student would incur, whilst studying, as a result of their disability
ELIGABILITY • Must be a student living in England • Have a disability that affects the ability to study (disability is defined within the Equality Act 2010- above) • Evidence of disability is required • Be an undergraduate or postgraduate student (including the Open University or distance learning) • Also includes foundation degrees, HNC, HND, and DipHE • Qualify for student finance from Student Finance England • Be studying on a course that lasts for at least a year • Not be in receipt of NHS Disabled Students Allowance (this is a separate scheme)
ONCE ELIGABILITY IS DETERMINED • An assessment is generally required. This will set out the equipment and any other additional support a disabled student should receive • Generally, Student Finance England will contact a disabled student and request they attend an assessment centre (the cost of the assessment will be paid out of the disabled student’s DSA entitlement • DSA is split into 3 components;- 1. Specialist equipment allowance 2. Non-medical helper allowance 3. General allowance (this can cover course related costs including printing and additional travel costs) • There are maximum limits each year for each component
The DSA Scheme has changed • DSA will no longer fund standard specification computers. It will fund higher specification computers where the need for one arises from the student’s disability, as opposed to a need due to the way in which a course is run. • Students with Specific Learning Difficulties will continue to receive support through DSA where their support needs are considered to be more complex. • DSA will fund the most specialist non medical help however, Higher Education Institutions are expected to consider if strategies can be put into place to reduce the need for support workers.
The DSA Scheme has changed cont. • The additional costs of specialist living accommodation will no longer be met by DSA other than in exceptional circumstances. • Higher Education Institutions that offer DSA study needs assessments and /or providers of DSA Assistive Technology Service will now need to be registered.
What does this mean for disabled students? The emphasis is now upon Higher Education Institutions to make reasonable adjustments and create an inclusive environment for students without necessarily having funding from DSA. As a result, Higher Education Institutions now need to fully understand their legal obligations to disabled students and ensure compliance.
Higher Education Institutions Duty to make reasonable adjustments(s20 EQA) • Where a student is disabled and requires an adjustment to teaching methods or how they are treated in order to avoid them being treated less favourably the Higher Education Institution should do so. • It is an anticipatory duty on the Higher Education Institution. • A failure to make reasonable adjustments is a breach of s21 EQA and can be sued upon.
EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE ESA is a means tested benefit that offers those who are ill or disabled financial support if they are unable to work or personalised support aimed at getting a person back to work There are three types of ESA • Contributory ESA- usually where a person has paid sufficient National Insurance contributions • Income related ESA- usually this relates to persons on a low income • “New Style” ESA - usually relates to those in a Universal Credit full service area or who are in receipt of Universal Credit
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