Child Disability Payment

Child Disability Payment is the main disability benefit for children in Scotland. It is paid by Social Security Scotland and it replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children living in Scotland¹. It launched nationwide to all new applicants on 22 November 2021, and as of 30 June 2026 an estimated 104,185 children and young people were receiving it¹. Social Security Scotland is the executive agency of the Scottish Government responsible for delivering Scotland's social security benefits³.

The payment is made up of two parts: a care component and a mobility component. A child can be awarded either one, or both, and each can be paid at different levels depending on how much help or supervision the child needs. It is not means-tested, so your income and savings do not matter, and it is tax-free¹.

If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the equivalent benefit is still Disability Living Allowance for children, and you apply for that instead⁴. This page covers Scotland only: who qualifies, how the two-part application works, what happens as your child approaches 16 and 18, and how to challenge a decision you disagree with.

What Child Disability Payment is and who it replaced DLA for

Child Disability Payment replaced Disability Living Allowance, which remains the main benefit for disabled children in the rest of the UK². New claims for DLA for children in Scotland closed, and families in Scotland now apply for Child Disability Payment instead⁴. The benefit is administered by Social Security Scotland⁸.

Children who were already getting DLA when the change happened did not have to reapply. Their claims were transferred to Child Disability Payment automatically, in a process that began on 11 October 2021. Social Security Scotland had completed the case transfer for over 99% of children and young people by June 2023, and the process was fully complete by January 2024¹.

The wider picture is that disability benefits are being reformed across the UK, but differently in each nation. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, DLA for adults has been replaced by Personal Independence Payment for working-age people⁹. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment is gradually replacing PIP and the adult version of DLA, while Child Disability Payment covers children¹⁰. So the benefit a family claims depends on where they live and on the claimant's age: DLA for children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Child Disability Payment in Scotland¹¹.

Who can get Child Disability Payment

You can apply for Child Disability Payment for a child who is under 16 and has mental or physical disabilities. You can also apply if the child's disability has not yet been diagnosed: what matters is the effect of the condition, not its name⁵. The child must live in Scotland¹².

There are some further rules around residence. A child living in a European Economic Area country, Switzerland or Gibraltar can still qualify if they have a genuine and sufficient link to Scotland, and Social Security Scotland will ask about residence details in those cases¹². A child cannot receive DLA for children and Child Disability Payment at the same time¹².

Applications are normally made by a parent or guardian, but the rules are wider than that. Someone without parental responsibilities and rights can apply if the child is not living with a parent or guardian and the parent or guardian cannot or does not want to manage the payment; the applicant is then named as appointee. For a terminally ill child, anyone can apply, as long as they tell the person with parental responsibilities, the guardian or the appointee and get their consent¹². More on appointees and managing someone else's claim.

New claims can be made from birth up to the age of 16. Those aged 16 and over are not eligible to apply for Child Disability Payment and should apply for Adult Disability Payment instead¹. The mobility part of the payment is only available to children aged 3 and over, while the care part can be claimed from birth¹⁴.

Care and mobility components: how awards are made up

Child Disability Payment is made up of two components: a care component and a mobility component¹. The care component has three levels and the mobility component has two rates, one lower and one higher⁷. An award can include one component or both.

The care component looks at how much help, support or supervision a child needs during the day and at night. The highest rate of care can apply where a child needs frequent attention throughout the day and prolonged attention at night, needs continual supervision, gets renal dialysis during the day and night at least twice a week, or is terminally ill¹⁵. The mobility component looks at how the child moves around outdoors. The higher rate of mobility can apply where a child aged 3 or above cannot walk, can only walk a short distance, could become very ill trying to walk, or has a severe sight impairment¹⁶.

Official statistics show how awards break down in practice. Of the children and young people receiving Child Disability Payment in June 2026, 69% received both a care and a mobility component; 13% received the higher mobility level, 56% the lower mobility level, and 31% no mobility award at all¹. Of the initial awards since launch that included a mobility element, 10% were for the higher level and 90% for the lower level. Of initial awards including a care element, 32% were at the highest level and 43% at the middle level¹.

The payment rates for each level are set by the Scottish Government and rise each April; see how rates rise each April for how uprating works. One note on the statistics: Social Security Scotland improved how it calculates award levels, which increased the recorded share of highest-level care awards by between 2% and 7% per month for all clients, and highest-level mobility awards by between 4% and 11%¹.

Not means-tested and not taxable

Child Disability Payment is not means-tested. The amount you receive is not affected by your income, savings or assets⁶, and any savings your child has do not affect their payment either¹⁷. It does not matter whether you are working, and the same principle applies to the equivalent DLA for children in the rest of the UK¹⁸.

It is also tax-free¹⁹, and it does not count as income for other benefits². That last point matters more than it sounds: an award of Child Disability Payment can unlock or protect other support, because means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit ignore it in their income calculations, and a qualifying disability award can open passported help and extra amounts within other benefits. In Scotland, a Child Disability Payment award is also a qualifying benefit for the Scottish Child Payment.

Because the amount does not fall when earnings rise, the payment is not affected by a parent starting work, increasing hours, or building up savings. The only things that change an award are the child's needs and circumstances, which is why reporting changes matters (covered below).

How to apply: the two-part application

The application is in two parts¹³. Part 1 gathers key personal details: your and the child's personal information such as dates of birth and address, the child's Child Reference Number, your National Insurance number, and the details of the bank, building society or credit union account the payment should go into¹³. Completing part 1 officially registers the date of your claim⁷.

Part 2 asks about the child's conditions and sensory issues, the help or care they need during the day and at night, support to move around outdoors, treatment or therapies, equipment or home changes, and medication¹³. You must complete part 2 within six weeks of completing part 1¹³. If you need longer, you can ask Social Security Scotland for more time, and you do not have to give a reason¹³. Independent advice also suggests completing each part within six weeks⁷.

You can apply online, by phone or by post⁷. Part 1 is generally made online or by phone; if you started part 1 online, part 2 is usually completed online, and if part 1 was completed by phone, part 2 is usually a paper form¹. You can claim online at mygov.scot or call Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222¹⁷. If you need support to complete the application, you can get help from a Social Security Scotland adviser, and you can request more time by contacting them²⁰.

Evidence you need, and why a diagnosis is not required

Your child does not need to have a diagnosis to qualify. You may have to provide evidence of how their disability or health condition affects them, but the supporting information does not need to include a diagnosis⁶. Social Security Scotland decides eligibility based on the impact of the condition on the child's daily needs, not on the condition's name²¹.

What you need to provide is a document from a professional that confirms the child's conditions, disability or needs¹³. This can be a letter from a professional, or an official document such as a prescription list, a letter from the child's school, or a letter about an assessment or appointment¹³. If you do not have anything suitable, you can ask Social Security Scotland to get the supporting information for you, but it may then take longer to process your application¹³.

This is a deliberate feature of the Scottish system. The same principle applies to Adult Disability Payment, where a diagnosis is not needed to apply¹⁰. It also matches how DLA for children works in the rest of the UK, where a child does not necessarily need a formal diagnosis, because the claim is based on the support the child needs¹⁶. When you fill in part 2, describing a typical day and night in detail, with concrete examples of the help your child needs, is what allows a decision to be made on the impact of the condition.

Terminally ill children: faster decisions and highest rates

There is a separate, faster route for children with a terminal illness, known as applying under the special rules for terminal illness. Under this route the application has only one part, rather than two¹. See special rules for terminal illness for how the process works across benefits.

Children who qualify under the special rules automatically get the highest rate of the care component, and can receive it from birth¹. They also automatically get the highest rate of the mobility component if they are aged 3 or over¹⁴. The award is ongoing and is not reviewed unless circumstances change, regardless of how long the child has been ill¹⁴. Awards for terminally ill children and young people are paid weekly in advance, rather than every four weeks in arrears¹.

The definition of terminal illness for Child Disability Payment is, in the opinion of the child's doctor or nurse, that the child has a progressive disease which can reasonably be expected to cause their death. This definition differs from the one used for Disability Living Allowance¹⁵. The usual minimum age requirement of at least 3 months does not apply where the special rules apply²².

Two further rules help terminally ill children. Unlike other awards, which cannot usually be backdated, an award under the special rules can be backdated to the diagnosis date or six months, whichever is more recent². And the upper age limit does not apply in the usual way: an individual receiving Child Disability Payment because they are terminally ill can continue to receive it with no age limit, and CDP can continue after their 18th birthday until Social Security Scotland transfers the award to Adult Disability Payment, with the young person's consent¹.

How payments are made and when they stop

Payments are made every 4 weeks, in arrears, with the start date of the award being the date the application was made¹. The money is paid into your bank account⁶. If you do not have a bank, building society or credit union account, you can still apply; you will need to contact Social Security Scotland to agree how you want to be paid¹³. For periods of entitlement shorter than one week, a component is paid at one-seventh of the relevant weekly rate for each day of entitlement²².

An award cannot usually be backdated: payment starts from the date part one was completed and registered². The exception is for terminally ill children, as above. If your child goes into hospital, both components continue in full so long as the child was under 18 when the in-patient stay began, and the payment should continue indefinitely as long as the other qualifying conditions are still met². This is different from many adult benefits, which can be reduced or stopped after a long hospital stay; more on what happens to payments in hospital.

If a child who was entitled to Child Disability Payment dies, the person managing their payment receives a final payment which includes a doubling of the weekly rate for the final 8 weeks of the child's award¹.

The age rules deserve attention. At 16, no new claims for Child Disability Payment can be made, but an existing award does not stop. A young person can choose to continue getting Child Disability Payment and claim Adult Disability Payment at any point while they are 16 or 17²⁴. From age 16, payments usually go directly to the young person rather than to their parent²⁴. There is no automatic transfer to Adult Disability Payment: the young person must make a claim themselves between their 16th and 18th birthday²⁵. So long as the claim is lodged before the 18th birthday, the Child Disability Payment award continues until a decision is made on the adult claim²⁴. If no full claim has been submitted before they turn 18, Child Disability Payment stops on their 18th birthday²⁵. If a full application for Adult Disability Payment was submitted before they turned 18, Child Disability Payment can continue until age 19 or the start of the adult payment, whichever is earlier¹. A young person who does not want to move to Adult Disability Payment can remain on Child Disability Payment indefinitely²⁷.

Reviews and changes you must report

Awards are reviewed by Social Security Scotland from time to time, but between reviews you have a duty to report changes. If your child's condition or care needs change, you must tell Social Security Scotland¹⁸. The kinds of changes to report include a change of address, the name of the child's doctor, if the child needs more help, and if their health condition changes²⁸. Be aware that if you report a change, the award may be reassessed and you may not get the same level of payment as before²⁸.

There are also reporting rules around time abroad. If the child has been outside the Common Travel Area at any time in the last year, or since birth if they are under 1, you must tell Social Security Scotland when they were away and why¹³. If you also claim Child Benefit, you need to report changes in your child's circumstances for that too, separately²⁹. General guidance on this is in reporting a change of circumstances.

If you move house within Scotland, the award continues, but Social Security Scotland must be told so the payment and any review correspondence reach you. If you move out of Scotland, different rules apply: Child Disability Payment continues for the first 13 weeks after leaving before stopping, and a claim for DLA (or PIP if the young person is 16 or over) is then needed². See moving between Scotland and the rest of the UK for the full picture.

Challenging a decision: redetermination and appeal

If you disagree with a decision on Child Disability Payment, the first stage is to ask Social Security Scotland to look at it again. This is called a redetermination, and it is the Scottish equivalent of the mandatory reconsideration used elsewhere in the UK; see challenging a decision. You have 6 weeks from when you receive the decision to ask for a redetermination⁶. Social Security Scotland then has 56 calendar days to make the redetermination¹, which independent guidance describes as getting back to you within 8 weeks⁶. For Child Disability Payment you can request a redetermination online³⁰.

Redeterminations often succeed: by 30 June 2026, 12,030 redetermination requests had been decided, and of these 52% were allowed and 43% were disallowed¹. So it is worth checking a decision you think is wrong rather than assuming the first answer is final.

If you still disagree after the redetermination, you can appeal to an independent tribunal¹. You can only request an appeal if you have received a redetermination decision and disagree with it, or if you did not get a redetermination decision in time³¹. The appeal must be made within 31 days of receiving the redetermination². Appeals can be requested online, by filling in an appeal request paper form, or by using the contactSCOTLAND app to contact Social Security Scotland by video relay³⁰.

For most decisions the process is: ask for an explanation, request a redetermination within 6 weeks, then appeal to the tribunal within 31 days of the redetermination if you still disagree. More detail on the tribunal stage is in appealing to a tribunal.