Disability Living Allowance

GOV.UK guidance is explicit that DLA for adults is closed to new claims: 'You cannot apply for DLA' if you are over 16 in England or Wales, and the guidance confirms 'You can only apply for DLA if you're under 16 and you live in England or Wales' - meaning adult claims can now only continue as a legacy award rather than be started afresh. Existing adult claimants are being actively migrated off the benefit: 'Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is being replaced by other benefits. If you already get DLA, your claim might end', with claimants sent a letter explaining when the change will happen and how to apply for its replacement. For working-age adults under State Pension age in England and Wales, that replacement is Personal Independence Payment (PIP); people who have already reached State Pension age instead move to Attendance Allowance if they are not already getting DLA.

The position differs across Great Britain because welfare has been partly devolved. In Scotland, DLA has already been fully replaced for existing claimants: guidance states 'All existing claims for DLA have been moved to Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance', reflecting the transfer of disability benefit administration to Social Security Scotland. In England and Wales, by contrast, migration to PIP is being managed claim-by-claim via individual notification letters rather than a single cut-over date, which is why some adult claimants who first qualified before the introduction of PIP in April 2013 may still be receiving DLA years later while their case awaits reassessment.