Severe Disability Premium

Severe disability premium

You must get the disability premium or income-related ESA, and one of the following qualifying benefits:

• PIP daily living component
• AFIP
• DLA care component at the middle or highest rate
• Attendance Allowance (or Constant Attendance Allowance paid with Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or War Pension)

You usually cannot have anyone aged 18 or over living with you, unless they’re in one of these situations:

• they get a qualifying benefit
• they’re registered blind
• they’re a boarder or subtenant (but not a close relative)
• they make separate payments to the landlord

You cannot get the severe disability premium if someone is getting Carer’s Allowance or the carers element of Universal Credit for looking after you.

If you’re in a couple

You’ll get the higher amount of severe disability premium if both you and your partner are eligible.

You can get the lower amount if:

• someone gets Carers Allowance or the carers element of Universal Credit for looking after only one of you
• only one of you meets the eligibility criteria and the other is registered blind

Hi @Mar I have only just seen this post and wanted to clarify something in respect of the SDP.  If a carer is not actually being paid Carers Allowance (CA), and has only an "underlying entitlement" to CA then this would not prevent an SDP being paid for the person they are caring for.  EG couple, both on ER Daily Living PIP.  One gets a state pension, the other does not.  They care for each other.  In this situation, if they both claimed CA, the one with the pension would NOT be paid CA and would have only an underlying entitlement, the other one would be paid CA. This means that only one SDP is payable as 1 award of CA is in payment.  As a second example: Couple, both on State Pensions, both on ER Daily Living PIP.  If they both claimed CA neither of them would be paid it because of the state pensions - they would both have only an underlying entitlement to CA.  This means that two SDPs are payable as CA is not actually in payment to either party.  This is why a couple can be caring for each other and still get 2 SDPs in their claim. I hope that makes sense - this is a notoriously confusing topic!

Sarah

Mar said:

Hi I have just seen your reply. Does we are both oaps now. I got my state pension on 6 March 2019. My partner had his already. We are both on PIP standard rate and qualify for SDP as a couple. Does this mean we can claim Carers Allowance underlying as well as SDP bit unsure of this? 

Thank you