Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children
A tax-free benefit for children under 16 who need substantially more care or have mobility difficulties.
What is it?
DLA has a care component at three rates and a mobility component at two rates. It is paid to the person responsible for the child.
Who may qualify?
The child must usually need much more looking after than a child of the same age without a disability, or have walking/mobility difficulties. Special rules apply for terminal illness.
What to do next
Download or request the claim pack. Describe care and supervision across good and bad days, including night-time needs, safety risks and mobility.
What if there is a refusal or problem?
Request Mandatory Reconsideration and then tribunal appeal. Ask a welfare-rights adviser to check the descriptors and evidence.
Practical plan: DLA for a child
This section goes beyond the basic DLA for a child rules and gives you an action plan, evidence checklist, common mistakes and a draft challenge letter.
Photograph the decision and put the last response date in your calendar. Do not miss a deadline while waiting for perfect evidence.
Ask for the report, scoring or notes used for the decision. Compare them with what you actually wrote and said.
Use concrete examples: what happened, what help you need, how often and what happens without that help.
Use a channel that gives proof. Keep copies of forms, evidence, journal entries and submission confirmations.
What to prepareTick items as you collect them
Common mistakesWhat to avoid
- listing diagnoses without practical examples
- sending only “I disagree” without identifying errors
- leaving out unpaid help from family or friends
- keeping no copies or proof of submission
- missing a deadline without explaining the reason
Tips that make a real difference
The key issue is the real functional effect. Link each medical document to a specific difficulty.
Replace “sometimes” with how many days a week, how long the task takes and how often help is needed.
State what could happen without supervision, prompting, physical help or rest.
Compare the child’s needs with those of a non-disabled child of the same age.
Escalation plan step by step
For most DWP decisions the first formal step is Mandatory Reconsideration. Identify the decision date, the disputed findings and the outcome you want.
Do not rewrite your whole history. Quote each disputed finding and answer it with facts, an example and evidence.
If reconsideration does not change the decision, consider a free appeal to the independent tribunal within the deadline in the notice.
Send relevant evidence with a short explanation of how it relates to the period covered by the disputed decision.
Reconsideration letter template
The letter generator runs only in your browser. Your entries are not stored or sent to EalingPulse.
Further routes
It is usually requested within one month of the decision date. If late, submit the request and explain the reason fully.
Open official informationAfter the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice, a free appeal can be made to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.
Open official informationA local welfare rights adviser can check the arguments and evidence before submission.