Finding the funds - statutory sources

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This page focuses on statutory sources of funding (funding which comes either directly or indirectly from the government or your local authority).

Benefits for disabled people and their families

The biggest source of additional money for disabled people and their carers is state benefits. Entitlement to some benefits can be triggered by a person's care needs (the care component of Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and the carer's benefit Carers Allowance) or mobility needs (the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance). Others, such as Incapacity Benefit, relate to the disabled person's capacity for work. Some benefits are not specific to disability but may provide useful additional money to those on low incomes (Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Working Tax Credit).

Each of these benefits or tax credits has its own criteria that must be fulfilled if you are to qualify. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is not means tested so a disabled person may be entitled to it even if they have a good income from another source.

It is not possible to write comprehensively and conclusively about benefits here, but it is important to ensure that you are receiving all the state benefits you are entitled to. Failing to claim a benefit might mean that you miss out on additional state benefits and money from other sources.

Some charitable grant-giving agencies use a person's entitlement to benefit as part of their criteria for deciding to whom they will give money. Even if you think you are already receiving everything you are entitled to, it is worth checking. You could make an appointment with an advisor from at your local Law Centre, local disability organisation or Citizens Advice Bureau. When you see the advisor make sure you take any benefit payment book or correspondence from the benefit agency with you. They may be able to help you fill out the appropriate claim forms.

Other sources of benefits advice

• DirectGov: find out what benefits you are entitled to by using the Benefits Adviser. Provides information about all benefits, including disability-specific ones.
• Adviceguide run by Citizens Advice (formerly National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux).
• Benefits Enquiry Line: Freephone 0800 882200, Textphone 0800 243355. They can give general advice and offer a form completion service for some types of benefits.
• Turn 2 Us: Freephone: 0808 802 2000. Advises people how to access the money available to them – through welfare benefits, grants and other help.

Social Fund

This is a government fund that may make payments to people in need. It is divided into two parts:

• The Regulated Social Fund - this may make payments for maternity expenses, funeral expenses, periods of cold weather and winter fuel. You are legally entitled to these payments if you meet the relevant conditions of entitlement. The rules for each type of payment are different but you will need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
• The Discretionary Social Fund - this may provide lump-sum payments for needs that are difficult to meet from weekly income. There is no legal entitlement to these payments, which are discretionary and budget-limited. There are three types of payment: budgeting loans, community care grants and crisis loans.

Budgeting Loans are interest-free, repayable loans intended for people who have been on Income Support (IS) or income-based Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) for some time. They are intended to help people meet the expense of specific items by spreading the cost over a period of time. You can only get a budgeting loan for certain kinds of expenses that fall within specified categories, such as furniture and household equipment, clothing and footwear, rent in advance and/or removal expenses to secure new accommodation, improvement/maintenance/security of your home, travelling expenses, expenses to do with seeking or re-entering work, or debts associated with any of these categories.

Community Care Grants are intended to assist people return to or remain living in the community, or ease exceptional pressures on the family. They cover similar expenses as budgeting loans but do not have to be repaid. The claimant needs to be in receipt of Income Support or income-based Job Seekers Allowance to qualify for one.

Crisis Loans are intended to meet expenses in an emergency, or as a consequence of a disaster (such as a house fire or flood), when the funds are not available from elsewhere. They also have to be needed to prevent a serious risk to the health or safety of the applicant or a member of their family. What an ‘emergency' or a ‘risk to health or safety' means is not defined so each application has to be argued on its individual merit. However, mobility needs, holidays and the repair/improvement of housing are specifically excluded. You may be able to get a crisis loan even if you are not in receipt of benefits, but your financial circumstances will be examined first.

You can enquire about claiming money from the Social Fund from your local Social Security Office. Advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau may be helpful, especially if you need help with the forms or disagree with a decision that has been made about your application.

Some other sources of statutory assistance

Working Tax Credit - This replaced Disabled Person's Tax Credit from April 2003. This is a means-tested scheme with additional disability elements being available to disabled people who are working but on low incomes and who are ‘disadvantaged' in employment terms by their impairment. It is administered by the Inland Revenue.

VAT Relief - You may be entitled to tax relief when buying certain items that are intended exclusively and specifically for the use of disabled people, such as a wheelchair or adapted computer keyboard. Most dealers of disability equipment can advise on this or you can contact Customs and Excise, which publishes an explanatory booklet (quote reference number 701/7/94).

Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) - This is for making adaptations to the home of a disabled person. There are two types of grant: the mandatory and the discretionary. Mandatory grants are for basic adaptations, considered essential by the local authority, to allow a person to gain access into their home and move (or be moved) around it to the areas where activities like toileting, sleeping and eating can be carried out. Discretionary grants are adaptations deemed non-essential but helpful such as building a safe play area. The mandatory grant is means-tested for adults but not for children, and depending on the outcome of the test, the amount of assistance offered can vary from nothing to the full cost of the work. There is also an upper limit placed on any DFG, which the local authority will not exceed regardless of the applicant's assessed need. Local authorities have the power to set their own conditions in relation to the discretionary grant.

Motability - This initiative was set up by government but is run as an independent organisation. It helps disabled people on the higher rate of the DLA mobility component get a car. There are two types of scheme: a hiring scheme and a hire purchase scheme. The hire purchase scheme can also be used to buy an electric wheelchair or a good used car instead of a new car. If you sign up to one of these schemes, your DLA mobility component will be paid direct to Motability. There are various criteria that you must fulfil to qualify, details of which are available direct from Motability.

Vehicle Excise Duty - You may receive a free ‘tax disc' for your car if the vehicle is exclusively used to meet the needs of a disabled person in receipt of the higher rate DLA mobility component. The necessary application form should be automatically sent to you without you needing to request it, but if it fails to arrive or you have a query, contact the Disability Benefits Unit (VED).

The Family Fund - The government finances this and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation administers grants. The Fund is for families with a severely disabled child under the age of 18.

If the funding you are seeking cannot be found from statutory sources you may wish to explore the possibility of raising funds from charitable sources or organising your own fundraising. 

Further benefits information

Law Centres Federation
Tel: 020 7842 0720
Fax: 020 7842 0721
Website: www.lawcentres.org.uk
Information on your nearest law centre.

Citizens Advice (formerly The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux)
Tel: 020 7833 2181 Fax: 020 7833 4371
Website: www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Details of your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Alternatively you could try the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux's online advice guide: www.adviceguide.org.uk

Benefits Enquiry Line
Tel: Freephone 0800 882200
Textphone: 0800 243355.
They can give general advice about benefits for disabled people and offer a form completion service for some types of benefits. Comprehensive information on the full range of government benefits available can be found at www.direct.gov.uk (click Money, Tax and Benefits)

Disability Alliance
Tel: 020 7247 8776
Website: www.disabilityalliance.org
Advice for disabled people, carers and advisors, and publishes the Disability Rights Handbook annually.

Working Tax Credit
Inland Revenue
Tel: 0845 300 3900
Textphone: 0845 300 3909
Website:www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/index.htm

Revenue and Customs
All enquiries (and requests for booklet ref: 701/7/94) are dealt with at a local level. Find the details of your nearest office by looking up HMRC in your local telephone directory or visiting their national website: www.hmrc.gov.uk

Motability
Tel: 0845 456 4566
Textphone: 0845 675 0009
Website: www.motability.co.uk

Family Fund
Tel: 0845 130 4542
Textphone: 01904 658085
Website: www.familyfund.org.uk

Contact Scope Response for information, advice and support on cerebral palsy and disability issues.

This information was last reviewed August 2013.