Disability premiums

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

There are 3 kinds of disability premium with different eligibility criteria:

• Disability Premium

• Severe Disability Premium

• Enhanced Disability Premium

These are separate payments. You can receive more than 1 of these disability premiums.

Receiving Disability Premium can mean that you’re also eligible for Severe Disability Premium.

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

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

Benefits that are not eligible

You cannot get a disability premium added to either:

• contributory Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

Moving to Universal Credit

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

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

You may be eligible for transitional protection payments 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

If you were receiving Severe Disability Premium, you should be eligible for transitional protection payments when you move to Universal Credit. But when these stop, your income will probably be lower.

Who qualifies

You may be able to receive disability premiums with the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Housing Benefit

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

Find out what benefits you are receiving

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

Contact Jobcentre Plus (GOV.UK)

How to claim

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)
• for Housing Benefit, you must contact your local authority (GOV.UK)

Backdating your claim

Find out if you are eligible. Contact either the DWP or your local authority to get your claim backdated.

Backdated disability premiums

Disability Premium

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.

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.

Severe Disability Premium

To be eligible, you must be getting either:

• income-related ESA, or
• Disability Premium, which can be added to Income Support, Income-based JSA or Housing Benefit

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

If you live with someone, including your child

You usually have to live alone to be eligible for Severe Disability Premium.

But you can still be eligible if all the people you live with meet any 1 of the following criteria. The criteria are the same if:

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

The eligibility criteria are:

• under 18

• 18 to 19, part of your family and are a qualifying young person

• receiving the PIP daily living component

• a commercial tenant, lodger or landlord who is not a relative

• receiving DLA care component at the middle or highest rate

• receiving Attendance Allowance

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

• receiving Armed Forces Independence Payment

• certified severely sight impaired or blind

• a live-in carer employed by a charitable or voluntary body, if you pay a wage for the service

Enhanced Disability Premium

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 either England or Wales, the rules might be different. Get advice.

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.