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Adult Disability Payment
What is Adult Disability Payment
Who Can Apply for Adult Disability Payment
Adult Disability Payment Components
How much is Adult Disability Payment
Applying for Adult Disability Payment
Transferring from Personal Independence Payment
Transferring from Disability Living Allowance
What is Adult Disability Payment?
Adult Disability Payment (ADP) is a benefit designed to help with the extra costs of being disabled. It is paid by Social Security Scotland and replaces Personal Independence Payment in Scotland.
You can receive Adult Disability Payment no matter your income, savings or work status. It is not taxed and claiming won’t negatively affect other welfare benefits you receive. You can spend Adult Disability Payment on whatever you want.
Who can apply for Adult Disability Payment?
Unless you are terminally ill, you must meet these criteria to apply:
- Be aged between 16 and State Pension age (currently 66).
- Live in Scotland, and have been present in the UK or Ireland for 26 weeks out of the last 52. There are exemptions to this rule, for example if you are a refugee.
- Have a disability or health condition that affects your ability to carry out daily living tasks or move around.
- Have a disability/health condition that has lasted at least 3 months and be expected to last at least 9 months more. You don’t have to have a diagnosis for what is causing your symptoms.
You can use the Scottish Government suitability checker to help you decide whether you are eligible to apply.
You have to be below State Pension age to make a new application, but if you already receive Adult Disability Payment when you reach State Pension Age you can continue to receive the benefit past State Pension age.
Adult Disability Payment components
There are two different parts to Adult Disability Payment; the daily living component, and the mobility component. You might receive one of these components or both of them.
Each of these components can be paid at the standard rate of payment or the enhanced (higher) rate of payment. It’s possible to get the enhanced rate for one component but the standard rate for the other.
You can receive the daily living component if you have difficulties with some of the everyday activities needed to look after yourself. These include:
- Making yourself food
- Eating and drinking
- Going to the toilet
- Washing yourself
- Getting dressed and undressed
- Speaking
- Reading text
- Engaging with others
- Making basic budgeting decisions
- Taking medication/monitoring your health condition
You can receive the mobility component if you have difficulties with moving around. Moving around means:
- Your ability to stand and walk up to 200 metres
- Your ability to plan and make a journey independently.
What does it mean to have difficulties with these tasks?
Difficulties in undertaking daily living activities and moving about can be because of any disability; physical, mental, or difficulty learning, remembering or understanding. You may need help from someone else or aids and equipment to help you complete a task. Help includes someone reminding you to undertake a daily task or someone supervising you to do so.
Alternatively, you may be able to do a task without help, but:
- Doing it yourself isn’t safe
- You can’t do it well enough
- You can’t do it fast enough
- Performing the task makes you too tired/unwell to do other daily tasks
If safety, accuracy, speed and fatigue affect you when you are doing daily living tasks or moving around, then this counts as having difficulties.
How much is Adult Disability Payment?
Payment Rates from April 2024 are:
Daily Living Component
Standard Rate: £72.65 a week
or
Enhanced Rate: £108.55 a week
Mobility Component
Standard Rate: £28.70 a week
or
Enhanced Rate: £75.75 a week
Applying for Adult Disability Payment
To apply for Adult Disability Payment, you need to fill out a form which has 2 parts. You should not need to attend an in person medical assessment.
Applying online
You can apply for Adult Disability Payment online. You will need to create a Scottish government ‘my account’ if you don’t have one already.
In part 1 of the form, you will provide basic details such as your date of birth, national insurance number and bank account details. You have 14 days to submit Part 1 of the form. In Part 2, you will need to answer questions about how your health condition affects your everyday life, and details of the medications and treatments you receive. You have 56 days to submit part 2 of the form.
Applying by phone and on paper
You can apply for Adult Disability Payment over the phone by calling Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222 (8am-6pm weekdays) to start your application. If your first language is not English, then you can request an interpreter to help.
You will need to give the call handler your basic details as part 1 of the form will be completed over the phone. Social Security Scotland will then post you Part 2 of the form as a paper copy. As with online applications, you will have 56 days to complete and return this form.
If you are a British Sign Language user, you can apply by contacting Social Security Scotland using the ContactScotland video relay.
Getting Help to Apply
Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery Service
You can get help to make your claim from Social Security Scotland’s local delivery service. A Social Security Scotland adviser can visit you at home or somewhere nearby. They can answer questions about Adult Disability Payment, help you submit forms and explain what kind of supporting information you need to provide. You can find out more details about the local delivery service here.
VoiceAbility
You can also get free help from VoiceAbility if you are disabled and want advocacy support to help you through the claims (and appeals) process. You can contact VoiceAbility directly or ask for their help through Social Security Scotland.
Welfare Rights Advice
A welfare benefits advisor could help you to complete the application form and make sure you are applying for everything you are entitled to. You may be able to find a benefits adviser at:
- a council or housing association welfare benefits service
- your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau
- an adviser at a carer’s centre or GP practice
There might be other organisations with welfare rights advisors in your area; call us on 0300 323 9961 to find out what help is available.
Supporting Evidence
Social Security Scotland will need information and evidence of your disability. You can either supply this with your claim or give permission for Social Security Scotland to seek this evidence from medical and other professionals who support you. If you can supply supporting evidence yourself, it can make the application process quicker. You can send supporting evidence with the second part of your application or as soon as you can afterwards.
What can I use as supporting evidence?
- a statement from a professional such as a GP, nurse, occupational therapist, social worker, or other professional who helps with your disability
- documents you already have such as medical letters or social care assessments that mention your diagnosis or symptoms you deal with
- repeat prescriptions slips
- a statement from someone who has witnessed the effect of your disabilities
- a daily diary of your symptoms, and the support you receive. This can be particularly useful if you have a fluctuating health condition, as it can show how your condition varies from day to day.
Transferring from Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to Adult Disability Payment
Social Security Scotland are in the process of transferring current Personal Independence Payment claimants in Scotland, to Adult Disability Payment. This process should be complete by the end of 2025. You will be transferred to Adult Disability Payment automatically; you do not need to fill in an application form. When your benefit is being transferred, you will receive a letter from Social Security Scotland to let you know.
If you receive Personal Independence Payment and report a change of circumstances, or your Personal Independence Payment is due for a review; this will trigger a move to Adult Disability Payment. You will be transferred over to Adult Disability Payment at the same rate, with no breaks in payment. Soon after, your claim will be reviewed. This will involve filling in a form where you describe any changes to your health condition. Following this review, the amount of money you receive may change.
Transferring from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Adult Disability Payment
Current Scottish claimants of Disability Living Allowance, who were born on or after the 8th April 1948, will be transferred automatically to Adult Disability Payment if they report a change of circumstances, or their benefit comes up for up for review.
If you are one of these Disability Living Allowance claimants born on or after 8th April 1948, then you also have the option of asking to move to Adult Disability Payment rather than waiting to be automatically transferred. It is important to get advice from a welfare rights advisor before you do this.
Social Security Scotland will also be introducing a new benefit called Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance. Any Scottish claimants still in receipt of Disability Living Allowance by Spring 2025 will be transferred to this benefit.
Information last updated on 29 April 2024. Please note that information may be subject to change. All information is provided in good faith but Disability Information Scotland does not endorse any product or service referred to within this resource.
