Do you claim SDP and not yet claim Universal credit?
Severe Disability Premium (SDP) is an amount paid to disabled people as part of their -
From 16/1/19, someone who receives SDP as part of a legacy benefit or were receiving it within the last month, and still meet the conditions for it, will be unable to claim Universal Credit.
- Jobseeker's Allowance (income based)
- Employment and Support Allowance (income related)
- Income support
- Housing benefit
From 16/1/19, someone who receives SDP as part of a legacy benefit or were receiving it within the last month, and still meet the conditions for it, will be unable to claim Universal Credit.
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This is the message that appears when someone identifies themself as receiving Severe Disability Premium and they try to claim Universal Credit.
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Qualifying conditions for SDP
SDP is only paid as part of JSA(IB), ESA(IR), Income support or housing benefit.
You also need to be in receipt of -
Usually to qualify you need to have no one over 18 living within them unless that person is -
You cannot qualify for SDP if someone claims carers allowance for you or claims Universal Credit as a carer for you.
If you are part of a joint claim then you and your partner both need to meet the qualifying conditions.
If you are already in receipt of one of the benefits and your circumstances change, meaning that you now qualify, then SDP can be added onto existing claims.
How to double check that you are getting SDP if you qualify
If you are in receipt of JSA, ESA or income support
Have a look at your latest entitlement letter and see if you can see the phrase "Extra money because you are severely disabled".
If you are in receipt of housing benefit
Have a look at your latest entitlement letter and see if you can see the phrase "Severe disability premium for..."
The rate for this year (2019/2020) is -
The rate for last year (2018/2019) was -
There are other premiums with similar names which have very different amounts listed, these are not SDP.
If you do not have an entitlement letter to hand then call the relevant benefit and ask them if you have it included in your payment and if not, ask if you qualify.
Alternatively, DWP do provide a phone number during the pre-claim process that you can call to discuss 0800 181 4049.
SDP is only paid as part of JSA(IB), ESA(IR), Income support or housing benefit.
You also need to be in receipt of -
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance (AA/CAA)
- Armed Forces Independent Payment (AFIP)
Usually to qualify you need to have no one over 18 living within them unless that person is -
- getting a qualifying benefit
- registered blind
- a boarder or subtenant (but not a close relative)
- making a separate payment to landlord
You cannot qualify for SDP if someone claims carers allowance for you or claims Universal Credit as a carer for you.
If you are part of a joint claim then you and your partner both need to meet the qualifying conditions.
If you are already in receipt of one of the benefits and your circumstances change, meaning that you now qualify, then SDP can be added onto existing claims.
How to double check that you are getting SDP if you qualify
If you are in receipt of JSA, ESA or income support
Have a look at your latest entitlement letter and see if you can see the phrase "Extra money because you are severely disabled".
If you are in receipt of housing benefit
Have a look at your latest entitlement letter and see if you can see the phrase "Severe disability premium for..."
The rate for this year (2019/2020) is -
- single claim £65.85
- couple (lower rate) £65.85
- couple (higher rate) £131.70
The rate for last year (2018/2019) was -
- single claim £64.30
- couple (lower rate) £64.30
- couple (higher rate) £128.60
There are other premiums with similar names which have very different amounts listed, these are not SDP.
If you do not have an entitlement letter to hand then call the relevant benefit and ask them if you have it included in your payment and if not, ask if you qualify.
Alternatively, DWP do provide a phone number during the pre-claim process that you can call to discuss 0800 181 4049.
SDP when splitting with a partner (even if you didn't have it before)
Done carefully and under specific circumstances you can avoid claiming Universal Credit when you split from a partner, even when you didn't qualify for it together. We will try and explain carefully.
If you were the main claimant on ESA, JSA, Income Support or Housing Benefit then you can remove a partner no problem at all. This itself is no reason to claim Universal Credit and if you still meet the conditions of it then it will not end. If you need now to make a new claim for benefit like tax credits or housing benefit or something else then you need to make sure you have SDP in place.
The best way to achieve this is by informing the benefit you do have left in place, often this is housing benefit, of your change of circumstances. They can reassess your entitlement and give you SDP and then you are fine to claim any other benefits that you need and aslo request a backdate.
If you have SDP when you move in with a partner
You can add a partner to any existing claim that you have, except for tax credits.
If you need help from tax credits because you have children and you lose your SDP when the partner moves in then unfortunately you will need to consider claiming Universal Credit. You would not be able to make a new claim for tax credits if you are no longer entitled to the SDP.
Regardless of your SDP, if your partner has had a claim for Universal Credit within the last 6 months, then you must claim Universal Credit,
If you claim SDP and lose entitlement to a benefit
If you are on ESA and you are found fit to work, you can claim another benefit like JSA (even if appealing).
If you move to a new area and need to make a new claim for help with housing, you can claim housing benefit.
If you lose entitlement to income support, you can make another claim for JSA or ESA, as you wish.
You can pretend Universal Credit doesn't exist.
If you stop being entitled to SDP because a child becomes a non-dependant or because someone starts caring for you
This in itself does not mean that you need to claim Universal Credit. You would only need to consider claiming Universal Credit at a point when you need to make a new claim for a benefit it replaces.
You already claim Universal Credit and you have SDP
These special rules only came into force on 16/1/19. Prior to that it was irrelevant that you had SDP and your Universal Credit claim is still valid. There is legislation being pushed through to compensate people that still meet the conditions of it.
If you have claimed Universal Credit since 16/1/19, then you would have been asked a series of questions regarding this before you could even take the first step in setting up an account and you would have redirected to legacy benefits.
If by chance, you still managed to submit a claim then when Universal Credit informs the relevant benefit, if the benefit tells Universal Credit that you have SDP, then your claim will be cancelled and you will redirected back to legacy benefits.
When will people with SDP claim Universal Credit?
The plan is that people who have SDP will be the last people to move over. At the moment they are saying managed migration will be completed in 2023 and they say by then that all the problems will be ironed out and that people with SDP will not lose money. These plans are being placed into legislation that hasn't been passed yet and will probably be amended numerous times. There could be even further delays. Until then no one actually knows for sure what will happen.
These special rules only came into force on 16/1/19. Prior to that it was irrelevant that you had SDP and your Universal Credit claim is still valid. There is legislation being pushed through to compensate people that still meet the conditions of it.
If you have claimed Universal Credit since 16/1/19, then you would have been asked a series of questions regarding this before you could even take the first step in setting up an account and you would have redirected to legacy benefits.
If by chance, you still managed to submit a claim then when Universal Credit informs the relevant benefit, if the benefit tells Universal Credit that you have SDP, then your claim will be cancelled and you will redirected back to legacy benefits.
When will people with SDP claim Universal Credit?
The plan is that people who have SDP will be the last people to move over. At the moment they are saying managed migration will be completed in 2023 and they say by then that all the problems will be ironed out and that people with SDP will not lose money. These plans are being placed into legislation that hasn't been passed yet and will probably be amended numerous times. There could be even further delays. Until then no one actually knows for sure what will happen.
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Here is screenshots from the pre-claim Universal Credit questions which identify people with Severely Disability Premium
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