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Severe Disability Premium

starbuck

I was just clearing through some old paperwork and found a letter for my daughter from 2017. I don't remember seeing the letter at the time.
She's on esa in the support group and this letter asks if she is eligible for the Severe Disability Premium because she gets pip.
I haven't much of a clue about how benefits work. I would have thought she wasn't eligible for this premium as she lives with her family. I get carers allowance for looking after my husband.
I doubt if she's missed out on any payments but thought I'd better check before I throw the form away.

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Comments

chiarieds

Hi @starbuck - To get the SDP you usually need to live on your own unless with another adult who also has a qualifying benefit. So you're correct in your thinking that you're daughter wouldn't have qualified. There's some info here from the government's website: https://www.gov.uk/disability-premiums/eligibility

starbuck

Ah that's ok then, I can bin the letter - thankyou ?

Adrian_Scope

Hello @starbuck. If both you and your husband receive PIP, DLA or AA too then she may be eligible. It sounds as though your husband receives one of them, do you?

starbuck

No, I'm the main carer.?

poppy123456

Then your daughter won't be entitled to the SDP.

starbuck

I didn't think it applied to us but I always get nervous when I have to throw out old paperwork ??

Adrian_Scope

That's understandable (and I'm the same @starbuck!) At least you know now and can part with it.

Danny3

Hello. This is a great forum for advice and giving hope to people who are perplexed by the complicated DWP forms. I became disabled in 2014 after more than 30 years as an engineer. I used complex figures; wrote technical papers, and deciphered the types of tech drawings which would make the Krypton Factor look easy, so I was confident I would be able to fill in a few DWP forms without issue.

This was not to be the case. Like myself, all my friends who tried to assist me in filling in my original DWP forms are grads of higher education, but also couldn't work out how some questions and 'parts' should be answered in relation to other parts. In the end, we gave up bothering. However, after a few years of being unable to find sit-down work, and avoiding filling in the DWP forms (and using up my savings) someone finally advised me to use the services of a disability centre to help me. The disability centre staff were brilliant and reassuring. I believe that due to lack of funding, there are now fewer centres since 2014, but if you are lucky to have one nearby, I would recommend going along to speak to them after lock-down if you cannot get the info you need on this site.

Although the disability staff in my case knew what they were doing and were up to date with all new benefits, my forms still came back to me, asking for more information. Information the DWP had already been given. The exact same information was sent back to them again. A few weeks later, the same information was asked for again. I was in despair, as the DWP had been given everything they needed, and more besides. I was next visited at home by an assessor who ignored all doctors' reports and failed to record any important information given to her. After many months,I was finally awarded ESA. Months after this I was informed I should have been claiming PIP.

This caused so much paperwork, it exhausted myself and my helpful friends more than claiming the ESA. The people who award PIP also ignored all reports and medication I was on, and decided not to award it to me. However, the disability centre folk helped me with more paperwork to appeal the decision, and a friend took me to court to plead my case before a judge.

The judge was very considerate and managed to control the disgusting behaviour of a jumped-up social worker whose manner of questioning me was most upsetting, and I was awarded PIP at the higher rate.

In June this year, I received a letter from DWP which I was afraid of opening, but I opened it after a few days. and was told they may owe me some money for SD premium. I thought this allowance was already being paid to me. I filled in the form, and because I did not hear anything back, I thought I was not entitled to anything more. I received two more of these forms over the past few months, and filled in exactly the same information and sent them back. I heard nothing at all from DWP, so assumed I must not be entitled.

Yesterday, I ignored a phone number several times, because I did not recognise it. In the end I picked up the phone to tell whoever it was to stop using my number, and was shocked to find it was someone calling from DWP to tell me they thought I may be entitled to SD premium and could they ask me some questions which would be quick and easy. I was reluctant, as I had not a good sleep. The lady I spoke to was genuinely very nice which shocked me, tbh.

Had she not known the precise date of my original claim in 2014, I would have felt I was being scammed. She told me that from the information I had given her, she could see I would be receiving a considerable sum of money within the next two or three weeks, but did not specify how much it would be.

I have read SUCH stories of other people on here, but never expected in my wildest dreams this could happen to me, so would tell everyone who keeps hitting brick walls with knock-backs from the DWP, to keep going.

Many thanks to Poppy and Adrian for guiding so many people through the DWP minefield I am sure you must have saved and enhanced the lives of many people who visit this site.

Tori_Scope

Hello @Danny3! Welcome to the community

Thank you for sharing this with us.

Ross_Alumni

Hello and welcome @Danny3

Danny3

Hi guys! :-) Thank you for the welcome. I've been a bit shy about posting since I joined, but try to read every post. It's great to see people on here being given the very best advice.

God only knows how people without internet access ever manage to muddle their way through the form filling for their benefit entitlements. Whereas everyone who accesses this site, can see they are not alone in their battles, and that if anything can assist them, the information will be made available to them, for them to start taking the necessary steps to resolving problems, which can at times seem so overwhelming.

Scope has definitely made a difference to the disgusting societal narratives which forces so many people to feel ashamed about claiming and receiving entitlements. Thanks to all who have contributed.

Tori_Scope

Take your time getting involved @Danny3. We don't bite though, I promise!

Thank you for your kind words, I'm sure everyone will appreciate them.

Please feel free to make a welcome post whenever you feel ready, and jump in on any other discussions you're interested in.

poppy123456

@Danny3 HI and welcome,

Thank you for those kind words! Made me smile!

Just so you know the criteria for the Severe disability premium it's as follows.

You must be claiming either daily living PIP or DLA mid/high rate care. No one must be claiming carers allowance or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after you. You must also live alone (no other adults living with you) unless they are either registered blind or they also claim a qualifying beneft such as PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care.

SDP from April 2020 is £66.95 per week, slightly less in previous years. If all that criteria applies to you then you're potentially looking at a very substantial lump sum coming your way. Also the money will be disaregarded from all means tested benefits for a total of 1 year.

Fingers crossed for you, that you hear something very soon. Usually they are very quick when claiming the SDP.

starbuck

Great news Danny!!!!

Danny3

poppy123456 said:

@Danny3 HI and welcome,

Thank you for those kind words! Made me smile!

Just so you know the criteria for the Severe disability premium it's as follows.
You must be claiming either daily living PIP or DLA mid/high rate care. No one must be claiming carers allowance or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after you. You must also live alone (no other adults living with you) unless they are either registered blind or they also claim a qualifying beneft such as PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care.

SDP from April 2020 is £66.95 per week, slightly less in previous years. If all that criteria applies to you then you're potentially looking at a very substantial lump sum coming your way. Also the money will be disaregarded from all means tested benefits for a total of 1 year.

Fingers crossed for you, that you hear something very soon. Usually they are very quick when claiming the SDP.

Thank you, Poppy! Luck has never been one of my closest companions, so I have everything crossed here! :-) Will post an update.

Really hope the dwp have turned over a new leaf, and their staff are starting to accept that they are not giving us their own private savings when we claim money we are entitled to lol

I have known a number of great people who went to work for the dwp, and who could have made a difference in the way people are spoken to, but they had to leave because of the way they were trained to "deal with claimants". The lady I spoke to this week was so kind and considerate compared to everyone else I have ever spoken to at the dwp. Besides cheering me up with this news, she may have tempted me to start answering unknown numbers calling my phone!

Wishing everyone else success in their current claims. Please don't be disheartened or lazy like me when the dwp do not acknowledge forms you send back. Keep in contact with them. Because even a tiny bit of extra income in your pocket, can be life changing! My specs cost a fortune because of the lenses, and it is a long time since I had a spare pair. So it will be a great treat to buy some without concerning myself with the cost.

poppy123456

@Danny3 you're welcome. I must admit in the several years i've claimed benefits i've never found any DWP advisors to be anything but polite, although i do realise that not everyone has experienced this.

Unfortunately, DWP advisors mostly just read from a screen and they have little benefit knowledge.

The SDP is also not automatically paid so lots of people have missed out on this payment. I know i've advised hundreds of people here on the community about claiming this exact benefit.

With a potential 6 year back payment you'll have enough to buy several lenses and a few extra treats on top.

Danny3

Hi Poppy. There were a few issues regarding me not continuing with claiming when the form filling became a pain in 2014, so they won't go back as that date. I made a mistake in my 2nd paragraph on here by writing "2014", it was a long while later when I ran out of savings that my claim finally began in earnest. Though the lady having my first claim date to hand persuaded me she was genuine.

I am in an age group where I get inundated with all manner of scam phone calls, so her knowing of matters only myself and close friends knew about, made me realise her call was genuine. She had no sooner put the phone down, than I received a call asking me how old my boiler was, and a few minutes later, another call asking if I had a funeral plan in place. lol This is why I get sick of answering unknown numbers lol

poppy123456

marcushodgkiss93 said:

Hi I was getting enchanted disability premium I was recieving £178.00 every 2 weeks it was Called EESA what do that means and dont understand why it was stopped back in 2018 when I never reported a change can any one help please as dwp phone me up last week saying did you know your ESA had stopped which I did not know.

I've just answered your question on another thread here.. https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/71778/enhanced-disability-premium#latest

Please keep to one thread because it's extremely confusing when trying to answer the same questions on various threads.

poppy123456

marcushodgkiss93 said:

What you mean I have not been rude

@woodbine's comment was most likely not aimed at you. There has been few members asked questions on this thread, so it has started to get confusing. This is why it's always better to start your own thread with any questions.

Danny3

Hello to all. My back payment of SDP has arrived. A lovely lady phoned me in advance, to take away the shock of the amount being paid into my bank account. I still had an attack of the vapours though, but am recovering nicely.

Would urge anyone still upset or in panic about doing the paperwork, to pluck up the courage to get in touch with the DWP and find out if you are entitled to SDP. It goes without saying that the back payment can be life changing, but so could the extra money you then get paid every fortnight.

Good luck to all of you who apply. All the information you need is supplied on this site, and it appears the DWP has outsourced the claims for this benefit to companies who are not yet trained to be unhelpful to us customers :-) Rule number one, is of course to always be polite to DWP staff, and allow them to feel powerful. Because they have the power to end your call if they detect you being 'emotional' or getting heated.

This is not to say we should appear weak, but it does help to show we know what side our bread's buttered these days. The only explanation I have been given regarding my personal claims having been such a nuisance and hard work, is because I "fell through the gap" because I had never made a claim since leaving school. Make of this what you will. It was explained to me that the systems changed a few years ago, and they had to spend a lot of time having to refer back to 'old systems'. And I quote "It's a bit of a phenomenon to have never claimed before. Are you sure you haven't claimed before?" Thank goodness the inland revenue is always on top of their game, is all I can say. Without them, I would probably still be lost in the gap I'm supposed to have fallen through when I became ill :-)