Disability premiums

This information applies to England and Wales.

Disability premiums are extra money that is added to your benefits because you are disabled.

There are 3 kinds of disability premium:

• Disability Premium 

• Severe Disability Premium 

• Enhanced Disability Premium 

These are separate amounts.

How much you receive will depend on which disability premium you get.

Disability premiums: What you’ll get (GOV.UK)

You must receive 1 qualifying benefit to be eligible

Each premium has its own eligibility criteria. But you must be receiving 1 of the following benefits to receive a disability premium:

• Income Support

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• Housing Benefit

If you do not receive a qualifying benefit

You are not eligible for any of the 3 disability premiums if you do not receive a qualifying benefit.

If you start receiving a qualifying benefit, you could become eligible for a disability premium.

Calculate your benefits to find out if you might be able to start claiming a qualifying benefit. For example, Housing Benefit.

Calculate your benefits (Turn2us)

You can receive more than 1 premium

For example, you may be eligible for Disability Premium and Severe Disability Premium.

Disability Premium eligibility criteria

You must be under State Pension age.

If you’re eligible, you can add Disability Premium to:

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

• Housing Benefit

• Income Support

You cannot add Disability Premium to your income-related Employment and Support Allowance. But you can add Disability Premium to 1 or both of the following:

• Severe Disability Premium
• Enhanced Disability Premium

To qualify for Disability Premium, you also have to be claiming 1 of these benefits:

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)

• Working Tax Credit with a disability element

• Attendance Allowance

• Constant Attendance Allowance

• War Pensioners Mobility Supplement

• Severe Disablement Allowance

• Incapacity Benefit

When to get advice

Get advice if you are in a couple and claiming both income-related ESA and Housing Benefit.

Scope helpline

When you are not eligible

You cannot claim Disability Premium if you or your partner are already getting Pensioner Premium. Pensioner Premium is more than Disability Premium.

How to claim

Severe Disability Premium eligibility criteria

To be eligible, you must be getting 1 of the following:

• income-related ESA, or
• Disability Premium, which can be added to Income Support, Income-based JSA or Housing Benefit
• Pension Credit (the benefit you get will be called an ‘addition’ or ‘additional amount’)

Also, you must also to be claiming any 1 of the following benefits:

• PIP daily living component

• DLA care component at the middle or highest rate

• Armed Forces Independent Payment

• Attendance Allowance

• Constant Attendance Allowance paid with Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or War Pension

How to claim

If you live with someone, including your child

There are rules about who you can live with and still be eligible for Severe Disability Premium. These are the same if:

• someone moves in with you or
• you move in with someone else

Living with someone and Severe Disability premium

When to get advice

Get advice if you live with someone who is a close relative and any of the following apply:

• they jointly own your home
• they are jointly responsible for paying the rent or mortgage

Check with an adviser if you are eligible for Severe Disability Premium.

Scope helpline

Enhanced Disability Premium eligibility criteria

You must be under State Pension age.

You must get either:

• Disability Premium or
• income-related ESA

You must also be receiving 1 of the following benefits:  

• PIP daily living component at the higher ‘enhanced’ rate

• DLA care component at the highest rate

• Armed Forces Independence Payment

You can also get Enhanced Disability Premium if you are in the Support Group for income-related ESA. This would happen if your Work Capability Assessment says you have limited capability for work-related activity.

If you or your child have moved from Scotland to England or Wales, the rules might be different. Get advice.

How to claim

When you are not eligible

You are not eligible for Enhanced Disability Premium if you or your partner are receiving Pensioner Premium.

Pensioner Premium is more than Enhanced Disability Premium.

Means-testing

Disability premiums are means-tested. This means that they are affected by income and savings.

Student finance

Student finance also counts as income for means-tested benefits. This includes disability premiums.

How student finance affects your benefits

Tax credits

There are no disability premiums for tax credits. But there is a Disability Element and a Severe Disability Element for Working Tax Credit.

Disability and tax credits (Low Income Tax Reform Group)

Joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance

If you and your partner have a joint claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance, there are other ways that you may qualify for the Disability Premium.

Contact the Scope helpline for advice.

Scope helpline

Universal Credit and contributory or New Style ESA are not eligible for premiums

You cannot get a disability premium added to either:

• contributory or New Style Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

You cannot start claiming disability premiums if you are receiving Universal Credit.

Start claiming Universal Credit and your premium will stop

If you are receiving a disability premium, it will stop when you start receiving Universal Credit.

If you were receiving Severe Disability Premium, you may be eligible for transitional protection payments when you move to Universal Credit. You may be eligible if you either:

• were receiving Severe Disability Premium and have a change in circumstances like moving house
• or the DWP sends you a letter to say that they are putting you through ‘managed migration’ and you will need to make a new claim for Universal Credit

How to claim

You normally do not have to claim disability premium. If you’re eligible, it’s automatically added to your benefit payment.

Contact your local Jobcentre Plus if it has not been paid.

You can also contact the office for the benefit you are claiming. Tell them that you think you are eligible for a disability premium:

• Income Support (GOV.UK)
• Income-related ESA (GOV.UK)
• Income-based JSA (GOV.UK)
• Pension Credit (GOV.UK)
• for Housing Benefit, you must contact your local authority (GOV.UK)

They might send you a form to complete. It will ask:

• what benefits you get
• who else lives in your house

The IS10 form is to apply for the Severe Disability Premium.

Find out what benefits you are receiving

Contact Jobcentre Plus to find out what benefits you are receiving.

Contact Jobcentre Plus (GOV.UK)

Backdated disability premiums

Claims for any of the 3 disability premiums can be backdated.

You should get a backdated payment for your premium if all of the following apply to you:

• you have started receiving a benefit which means you qualify for a disability premium
• your claim for the qualifying benefit is backdated

Contact the organisation that pays your disability premium. Ask them to backdate your disability premium if they do not do this automatically.

This will be:

• your local authority for Disability Premium added to Housing Benefit
• the DWP for disability premiums added to any other benefit