Child Disability Payment

You can apply for Child Disability Payment for a disabled child under 16. The disability can be mental or physical. 

You can also apply for Child Disability Payment if the disabled child does not have a diagnosis. In such cases, you can tell Social Security Scotland about:

• how they're affected
• any symptoms they may have

Social Security Scotland will pay Child Disability Payment until the child is 18. They can sometimes continue making payments after the child is 18. Find out more about payments.

Child Disability Payment is tax-free and made up of two components:

• care
• mobility

Children:

• three months old or over may qualify for the care component
• three years old or over may qualify for the mobility component

If the child is terminally ill:

• they qualify for the care component from birth
• they’ll also qualify for the mobility component if they’re three years old or over

A child's care and mobility needs are not only about their physical ability. They can include:

• emotional difficulties
• behavioural difficulties
• mental difficulties
• developmental difficulties
• learning difficulties

Care component

This has three different payment rates:

• lowest
• middle
• highest

Lowest

This is a weekly rate of £24.45 and paid if the child either:

• needs attention from someone, for a significant part of the day, in connection with their bodily functions due to a physical or mental disability
• is 16 or older and, due to a mental or physical disability, is unable to prepare a cooked main meal for themselves

Middle

This is a weekly rate of £61.85 and paid if the child either:

• needs frequent attention from someone during the day, or prolonged or repeated attention at night, in connection with their bodily functions due to a physical or mental disability
• needs continual supervision during the day, or another person to be awake for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals at night, to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others
• gets renal dialysis treatment, during the day or at night, at least twice a week

Highest

This is a weekly rate of £92.40 and paid if the child either:

• needs frequent attention from someone during the day, and prolonged or repeated attention at night, in connection with their bodily functions due to a physical or mental disability;
• needs continual supervision during the day, and another person to be awake for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals at night, to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others;
• gets renal dialysis treatment, during the day and at night, at least twice a week;
• is terminally ill.

If you get the highest rate of the care component, you'll also get Child Winter Heating Assistance.

Mobility component

There are 2 payment rates for the mobility component:

• lower
• higher

Lower

This is a weekly rate of £24.45 and paid if the child:

• is age five or over
• can walk, with or without equipment, but most of the time needs guidance or supervision from another person to move around outdoors

Higher

This is a weekly rate of £64.50 and for children aged three and over.

It’s paid if the child either:

• cannot walk, or is virtually unable to move around outdoors due to their disability
• has a severe visual disability or is blind and deaf
• has a severe mental health disability 
• has severe behavioural difficulties, due to a severe mental health disability, and needs supervision during the day and at night to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others
• would experience a serious deterioration in their health from the exertion of walking
• is terminally ill

If the child gets the higher rate mobility component, you can apply to lease an accessible vehicle.

You can download documents showing a sample of questions you'll be asked when applying for Child Disability Payment. They're for reference only and you should not use them to make an application. 

Any adult with parental responsibilities and rights or a guardian can apply for Child Disability Payment on behalf of the child if the child:

• is under 16
• lives in Scotland

You cannot receive Disability Living Allowance for children and Child Disability Payment at the same time.

You can still apply, if the child is not living with a parent or guardian. The parent or guardian must also not:

• want to manage Child Disability Payment for the child
• be able to do this

You must agree for Social Security Scotland to name you as the child’s appointee to manage their Child Disability Payment.

You do not need to apply for Child Disability Payment. You’ll continue to get your DLA for children payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

From mid October 2021:

• cases will start to move to Child Disability Payment in stages
• you’ll get your payments from Social Security Scotland instead

You do not need to reapply.

Social Security Scotland will:

• contact you before it happens
• not reassess your award

There will be no gap in your payments. 

Until you're told that the transfer is complete, you should continue to follow instructions DWP gives you to maintain your DLA for children award.

Find out more about the transfer process.

Anyone can apply for the child as long as they:

• tell the person with parental rights and responsibilities, guardian, or appointee if there is one, that they’re applying for them
• get consent from the child’s parent, guardian or appointee to do so

The application is in two parts. This is unless you're applying for a child who is terminally ill, in which case there is only 1 part to make the process faster.

You should complete both parts of the application within 6 weeks of each other. If you have any difficulties meeting the timescales, contact Social Security Scotland to discuss.

You do not need to apply for Child Disability Payment if the child already gets Disability Living Allwance (DLA) for children. 

From mid-October 2021:

• cases will start to move to Child Disability Payment in stages
• you’ll get your payments from Social Security Scotland instead

To apply online, start the application through myaccount. This lets you save the application as you go so you can come back to it when it suits you.

If you do not already have an account with myaccount, you'll need to:

• register with a username and password
• give some personal details

You can call Social Security Scotland by phone to start an application for a child.

Freephone: 0800 182 2222 (8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday).

If you need to contact Social Security Scotland from outside the UK, please call +44 (0)138 2931 000. This call is not free but you can ask Social Security Scotland to call you back. Check with your phone provider for details of charges.

Social Security Scotland will ask for some details about you and the child so they can start your application.

They'll then send you a paper application to complete and return in a prepaid envelope.

If you’re sending information to Social Security Scotland from outside the UK, you’ll need to pay the correct amount for postage. Check with your local postal service.

Our Team can help you to apply for the Child Disability Payment.  

The Social Security Scotland Local Delivery service can also help you apply.

Find out more about help to apply for Child Disability Payment.

Contact Social Security Scotland to:

• apply over the phone - you can do this in over 100 languages with an interpreter they’ll provide
• ask them to send you a paper application form - you can get it in over 100 different languages

You can ask for languages that include:

• Polish
• Arabic
• Romanian
• Urdu
• Mandarin
• many of the other languages used in Scotland

There are no costs for you to apply in a language that’s not English.

The online application form is only in English.

The Department for Work and Pensions will send your application to Social Security Scotland. 

Social Security Scotland will: 

• use it as an application for Child Disability Payment
• make a decision about your application

You'll get your payments from the date you applied for DLA for children, if your application is successful.

You do not need to complete a separate Child Disability Payment application. 

After you apply for Child Disability Payment, Social Security Scotland might contact you:

• to get more information about some of your answers
• if you have asked for help to find supporting information
• if there's any information you have not been able to give, like account details for payment.

When making a decision, they'll have access to:

• detailed decision making guidance;
• experienced medical practitioners.
• specialist advisers with extensive knowledge and experience of working in health and social care.

Social Security Scotland will send a letter with the decision to either:

• the parent or guardian
• someone appointed to act on the child’s behalf
• the child if they’re 16 or over and managing their own payments

This letter is called a notice of determination.

Social Security Scotland aim to decide within six to eight weeks, after getting:

• your completed application
• all the information they need to make a decision

If the child has a terminal illness, they aim to decide within seven working days.

As Child Disability Payment is a new service, some processes may take longer. Processing applications can also take longer because of high demand.

You have the right to appeal Social Security Scotland’s re-determination decision about your application for Child Disability Payment.

From the day you receive Social Security Scotland’s new decision you have 31 days to make an appeal. Appeals go to the Social Security Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (the Tribunal).

You can appeal to the Tribunal if:

• you do not agree with what Social Security Scotland decides
• Social Security Scotland tells you they have not been able to look at their decision again within 56 days (eight weeks)

From the day you receive Social Security Scotland’s decision about your application for Child Disability Payment, you have 42 days (six weeks) to ask them to look again at what they decided.

If Social Security Scotland receives your request after the 42 days have passed, you'll need to let them know the reason why.

If Social Security Scotland thinks there's a good reason for the request being made late they can accept it. This is as long as you make the request no more than one year after you're informed of their decision.

If you do not provide a reason, Social Security Scotland will refuse your request.

You also have the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland if Social Security Scotland decides not to accept a late request for a re-determination.

An appeal can be made within 31 days from the date you receive Social Security Scotland’s decision. If you choose to appeal the decision after 31 days you'll require permission from the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Your appeal must be brought within one year of you receiving Social Security Scotland’s decision.

Social Security Scotland will contact you to:

• confirm they have got your request and are able to look at it
• find out if there's anything else they need from you

From the day of getting your request, Social Security Scotland has 56 days (eight weeks), including weekends and bank holidays, to make a decision. They'll write to you to let you know their new decision.

If Social Security Scotland does not make a decision during this time, you'll have the right to appeal directly to the First-tier Tribunal.

You can let Social Security Scotland know that you want to appeal by:

• calling Social Security Scotland for free on 0800 182 2222 (8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday) ;
• applying by paper form.

If you're a British Sign Language user, use the contactSCOTLAND app to contact Social Security Scotland by video relay. 

If your Child Disability Payment has been stopped or reduced you can apply for short-term assistance while you apply for an appeal.

Our Team can help.