Disability premiums for Income Support

rainy1

Hi, 

I'm very confused about these 3 disability premiums and am not sure if im supposed to have been awarded any ....
Disability premium
Severe disability premium
Enhanced disability premium

Me and my partner are still on income support as a couple and I am currently receiving both enhanced elements of PIP and my partner is receiving both daily living elements of ADP.

My daughter who doesn't live with us claims carers allowance for me and is in receipt of the carers element while she's on UC.

My 2 youngest adult children are still living with me and my partner and 1 is receiving both enhanced elements of PIP and 1 both enhanced elements of ADP.

I get carers allowance for my son and my partner gets carers allowance for my daughter.

Are we as a couple entitled to any of the 3 premiums?

Thanks in advance 🙂

rainy1

Sorry my partner is on medium element of care and low element of mobility ADP.

rainy1

And yet again I made a mistake! I am so sorry. I should have said my partner is on enhanced daily care and standard mobility. 
They are all so confusing 🤦‍♀️

poppy123456

The disability premium is usually automatically paid when claiming Income Support. 

Enhanced disability Premium should also automatically be paid because of the disability premium.

Severe disability Premium isn’t automatically paid because of the criteria involved. As your daughter is claiming carers element/carers allowance for looking after you then you will not be entitled to this. 

If no one is claiming carers allowance or carers element for looking after your partner then your IS should included single SDP. 

To claim the SDP you will need to ring IS and ask to claim it. 

If you can tell me how much IS you usually receive I can tell you whether the 2 other disability premiums are included. 

Or if you would prefer not to disclose this information you can look at a recent letter from IS to see what is included. Please note though that because both of you are claiming carers allowance then this will be deducted in full from your IS and 2 carers premiums will be added, so it will look like your weekly amounts are lower. 

rainy1

Hi Poppy,

Thank you so much for your reply, it's very appreciated.

Our amounts are ...

133.30 ... For us both
56.80 ... Because you or your partner are sick or disabled (is this a disability premium?)
42.75 ... Because you are caring for someone
42.75 ... Because your partner is caring for someone
27.90 ... Disability income guarantee (is this a disability premium?)

= 303.50
- 153.50 ... 2x carers allowance
= 150.00

Yes our carers allowances are taken off our income support taking it to 150.00 per week. 

So if the other 2 amounts are indeed the disability premiums does that mean the only premium missing is the severe disability premium for my partner and not me because my daughter receives carers for me?
Is SDP supposed to be automatically added to our IS and will it be backdated to the start of my partners award?

Thanks 🙂 

poppy123456

The £56.80 is the couples disability premium, which has now increased to £60.60/ week. 
The disability Income Guarantee is otherwise known as Enhanced Disability Premium, I have no idea why it's always referred to as this on the letters because it does confuse some people. This has now increased to £29.75/week. 

Therefore you're only missing the SDP but you will only be entitled to the single person rate as I advised above. This will be £81.50/week (new rate) 

Please do as I advised above to claim it. Ask for it to be backdated to the date you qualified for it (when ever that was) It is not automatically awarded because of the criteria. 

rainy1

Thanks poppy,

I've rang and explained and the lady I spoke to was lovely, we went through a form instead of her sending one out.

She did say she was very surprised it wasn't added on and it will be in my next payment.

I did ask for it to be backdated to August 2022 which is when the ADP was awarded from but she said it might not be as they are only allowed to backdate it as far as they are legally required to ..... I did ask how far that is and she said she doesn't know.

Is that right? I'd have thought if it was their mistake then it should be backdated to the original award date?

poppy123456

The person you spoke to is someone from a call centre, who has very little benefits knowledge, other than to sit there reading from a screen. They often "pretend" they know....

It may not be included in your next payment because a decision maker has to look at the claim and come to a decision. It can't be included in your claim until this is done. 

Yes, it should definitely be backdated to the date you were entitled to it because as I advised, it's not automatically awarded because of the criteria. If they refuse to backdate it to the date you became entitled to it then request the MR. 

rainy1

Hi Poppy, 

I'm so sorry I didn't answer earlier than now, but I haven't been very well.
Thank you for the reply, and thank you for your great advice.
Let's hope it doesn't come to a MR. I'll keep you updated on what they say 🙂