Qualifying periods for disability benefits

Extra-costs disability benefits

Social security benefits are available to provide a contribution towards the extra costs that can arise from a disability or health condition. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland there are three main ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits:

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA), for children under 16
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP), for people of working age
• Attendance Allowance (AA), for people over State Pension age

These benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested, and tax free. They can be paid to people both in and out of work.

In Scotland, DLA for children, PIP, and AA have been replaced by devolved benefits.

Qualifying period rules

For all three benefits, claimants must usually have met the relevant disability conditions for a period before payment can begin – a ‘qualifying period.’ For DLA and PIP, the person must also be likely to satisfy the condition(s) for a further period (a ‘prospective test’):

• for DLA, the qualifying period is three months, and the person must also be likely to satisfy the conditions for the next six months
• for PIP, the qualifying period is three months, and the person must be expected to satisfy the conditions for a further nine months
• for AA, the qualifying period is six months, and there is no prospective test

The qualifying period starts from when the person’s care or mobility needs began, not when the claim for benefit is made. A person may already have served the qualifying period, in full or in part, before the date of the claim.

For all three benefits, a person does not have to serve a qualifying period if they are not expected to live more than 12 months.

Rationale for qualifying periods

Qualifying periods have applied ever since extra-costs disability benefits were first introduced.

The rationale is that extra-costs disability benefits are intended to support people with long-term conditions. The qualifying period helps establish that the person’s disability and resulting care and support needs are long-standing.

Comment and debate

Since extra-costs disability benefits were first introduced, all governments have supported the principle behind qualifying periods, and no government has said they were considering abolishing them.

In 2025 a petition was presented calling on the UK Government and Parliament to ‘Provide day 1 financial support to parents caring for a seriously ill child.’ In its response, the government said that while it recognised the difficulties faced by parents of ill children, “a wide range of financial support for both individuals and their carers” was available and it had no plans to introduce an immediate non-means tested grant.