IS20 - A guide to Income Support

Your Income Support payment

Premiums for long-term sick people and people with disabilities

The disability premium
If you are under 60, you may be able to get this premium if you or your partner are:

• getting DLA
• or getting Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award
• or getting Attendance Allowance (AA) [Legislation (67)]
• or getting Incapacity Benefit – long-term rate
• or getting Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
• or provided with an invalid carriage
• or your higher-rate mobility component of DLA is being paid direct to Motability
• or registered blind.

If blindness ends, you will still get the payment for up to 28 weeks after you cease to be registered blind.

You may also get the disability premium if you are accepted as being incapable of employment (or receiving Statutory Sick Pay) for at least 364 days (196 days in the case of terminal illness), including periods of incapacity separated by 8 weeks or less. A new 52 week linking rule was introduced from October 1998 for those who leave benefit to move into work but who subsequently return to benefit as incapacitated within 52 weeks. Periods during which you have been receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from your employer may count towards the 364 days.

The severe disability premium
If you are single you may get the lower rate premium if:

• no one else lives with you [Legislation (68)] and you get the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA and no one gets Carer’s Allowance (CA) for looking after you.

If you have a partner you may get the higher rate premium if:

• you and your partner both get the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA, no one else lives with you and no one gets CA for looking after either of you
• you get the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA and your partner gets AA, no one else lives with you [Legislation (68)] and no one gets CA for looking after either of you.

If you have a partner you may get the lower rate premium if no one else lives with you [Legislation (68)] and

• the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA is paid to both of you, and CA is in payment for only one of you
• the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA is paid to you, your partner gets AA, and CA is in payment for only one of you
• the middle or highest rate of the care component of DLA is paid to you, your partner is blind and CA is not in payment. In this situation the person with the DLA must be the claimant.

The enhanced disability premium
You may be able to get this premium if you or your partner get the highest rate of the care component of DLA.

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