These benefits are
often the ones that make the biggest financial difference to people. They
broadly relate to either having some sort of longer term illness or
disability, or having children
Disability Living
Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), along with elements of
the Industrial Injuries and War Disablement schemes are particularly
vital because they are paid ON TOP OF ALL OTHER BENEFITS.
They may also
entitle the recipient to more money within means tested benefits
(step 2) - go back and check - and are also the key to carers being
able to claim Carer’s Allowance.
These then stack up
on ‘step one and two’ benefits, so that a younger person with long
term health problems might get Severe Disablement Allowance, Income
Support, Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit and DLA.
An older person with a
lot of savings might be on Retirement Pension, nothing from step two,
and Attendance Allowance. Someone who has developed a mental health
problem as the result of army service may be able to claim from the War
Disablement benefits scheme as well as getting Incapacity Benefit.
You don’t HAVE to be
getting any other benefit to be able to claim from this step - many
people who are in work get Disability Living Allowance.
e.g. Sandra’s mental health difficulties began many years ago. For a
long time then she’s been on Incapacity Benefit, Income Support, Council
Tax Benefit and Disability Living Allowance.
Things have improved a bit and she’s now looking at taking a job for
four days a week in her local Mind Centre. She would have to come off
Incapacity Benefit, but might qualify for a ‘top up’ of Working Tax
Credit on top of her wages. She would still be entitled to DLA as long
as her difficulties met the qualifying conditions.
