Glossary · UK
What is Disability Living Allowance (DLA)?
A tax-free benefit for children under 16 with a disability or health condition across the UK, and for adults in Scotland only, replaced by PIP for working-age adults in the rest of the UK.
Full Definition
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a tax-free benefit that helps with the extra costs of a long-term disability or health condition. New claims for DLA are now only possible for children under 16 across the whole of the UK -- paid to a parent or carer on the child's behalf -- because working-age adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have Personal Independence Payment (PIP) as the equivalent benefit instead, following DLA's phased closure to new adult claims that began in 2013. In Scotland, DLA for adults has been fully replaced by Adult Disability Payment, delivered by Social Security Scotland, while DLA for children is similarly being replaced there by Child Disability Payment. DLA has two components: a care component (paid at a lower, middle or higher rate depending on how much day-to-day help or supervision is needed) and a mobility component (paid at a lower or higher rate depending on how severely a person's ability to walk or get around is affected), and a claimant can qualify for one or both components depending on their needs. Existing adult DLA claimants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have not yet been reassessed are gradually being invited by the DWP to claim PIP instead, since DLA for working-age adults is being phased out entirely; those over State Pension age when DLA ends generally move on to Attendance Allowance rather than PIP.