Adult Disability Payment in Scotland: Rates, Eligibility and How to Apply

Adult Disability Payment has 2 parts, daily living and mobility, and you may qualify for one or both. Each part has a standard and an enhanced rate.

If you get the enhanced rate of both parts you get £194.60 a week. Payments are made every 4 weeks, into your bank account. If you are terminally ill you are paid weekly in advance instead.

These are the same weekly rates as PIP in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It does not matter if you are working or not, and your income and savings are not taken into account.

If you get the enhanced rate of the mobility part you can apply to lease an accessible vehicle. The Scottish regulations let Social Security Scotland pay that part direct to an authorised provider of vehicles for disabled people, with your consent. Our Blue Badge guide covers the Scottish Adult Disability Payment routes to a badge.

You must be between 16 and State Pension age and have a disability, a long-term physical or mental health condition, or a terminal illness. You can apply while you are waiting for a diagnosis. You must also meet the residence rules below.

• ✓Yes: You are ordinarily resident in Scotland and habitually resident in the Common Travel Area (the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man)
• ✓Yes: You are present in the Common Travel Area now, and have been for at least 26 of the last 52 weeks
• ✓Yes: You are not a person subject to immigration control, apart from the exceptions in the regulations
• ✓Yes: The 26 week past presence test does not apply if you are terminally ill. Refugees and people with humanitarian protection are exempt from both the habitual residence and the past presence tests
• ✓Yes: You are treated as still present for the first 13 weeks of a temporary absence from the Common Travel Area for any reason, and for up to 26 weeks in total if the absence after the first 13 weeks is for medical treatment arranged before you left
• ✓Yes: You do not get Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Pension Age Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance or Armed Forces Independence Payment, because you cannot be entitled to more than one at a time

You can also apply from outside Scotland if you live in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Gibraltar and have spent a major part of your life in Scotland. If you have moved to Scotland from England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you make a new application, and your award letter from your current benefit provider can be used as supporting information.

Social Security Scotland scores you across 12 activities, 10 for the daily living part and 2 for the mobility part. For each activity it picks the descriptor that matches your needs and you score the points linked to it. The points for each part are added up separately.

The 10 daily living activities

The 2 mobility activities

The mobility part scores planning and following journeys, and moving around. Planning and following journeys scores from 0 (you can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided) up to 12 points (you cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid). Moving around is scored on how far you can stand and then move:

The rules behind the scoring

• ✓Yes: Aids count. Your ability is judged with any aid or appliance you normally use, or as if you used any you could reasonably be expected to use
• ✓Yes: You must be able to do the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time. A reasonable time means no more than twice as long as someone without your condition would normally take
• ✓Yes: If one descriptor applies on more than 50% of days, that descriptor is used. If more than one applies on over 50% of days, the one that scores higher is used. A descriptor counts for a day if it applies for any part of the day that is not minimal or fleeting
• ✓Yes: Needing help counts even if you do not have it. "Needs" means the aid, prompting, supervision or assistance is reasonably required, though it may not have been available or provided
• ✓Yes: You must also meet the required period condition: it must be likely that you would score at that level on every day in the 13 weeks before the relevant date and the 39 weeks after it. The relevant date is usually the date of your application

If you would not qualify on the date you applied but are likely to within 13 weeks, Social Security Scotland can choose a later date within that 13 weeks on which the application is treated as made. Your decision letter lists the points you scored for each of the 12 activities and explains why.

Under the special rules for terminal illness you automatically get the enhanced rate of both parts, however long you have had the illness. There is only one part to the application, and you can complete the whole application over the phone. Social Security Scotland aims to decide in around 7 working days.

Social Security Scotland uses the definition in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018: you have a progressive disease from which death may reasonably be expected. Only a registered medical practitioner or registered nurse involved in your diagnosis or care can make that judgement. Unlike the special rules for end of life elsewhere in the UK, Social Security Scotland does not require your healthcare professional to state a life expectancy, and awards are for life and not reviewed unless your circumstances change.

Entitlement begins on the date of your application, or on the date of the healthcare professional's judgement if that is earlier. If that judgement is dated no more than 26 weeks before your application, Social Security Scotland can start your entitlement up to 26 weeks earlier.

There are two ways to apply. The quickest is online. You apply in 2 parts either way.

What you need for part 1

• ✓Yes: personal details, such as date of birth and main address
• ✓Yes: your National Insurance number, which is on your National Insurance card, a social security letter, payslip, P60 or P45
• ✓Yes: bank, building society or credit union account details. You can still apply without an account and agree with Social Security Scotland how you will be paid
• ✓Yes: if you have been outside the Common Travel Area at any time in the last year, when you were away and why

What part 2 asks

Part 2 asks about your condition and how it affects your ability to look after yourself, understand information and communicate, what help and support you need and why, how you move around outdoors, and any medication, treatment or equipment you need. You only need to give detailed answers to the questions that are relevant to you, and you do not need to worry if you add information in the wrong place. Social Security Scotland publishes a reference only copy of the questions, which you must not use to apply, because it does not show the date you started.

Supporting information

You need to provide a document from a professional that confirms your conditions, disability or needs. It does not need to include a diagnosis. Examples are a letter from your GP about an appointment, a formal medication or prescription list, test results, social work reports and physiotherapy reports.

You can also give information about how your condition affects your life, by letter or phone call from someone who knows you well, such as a partner, friend, family member, neighbour who helps with your care, or a professional. Social Security Scotland treats information from professionals and from your wider support network equally.

Send it with your application, which is quicker, or to Social Security Scotland within 28 days of submitting part 2. You can upload documents online or send photocopies by post. You cannot send supporting information by email. You can ask Social Security Scotland to get the information for you, but that can make your application take longer. If you do not have any, you can still apply.

You can use the free check before you apply tool on mygov.scot. For independent support, Advocacy.Scot is independent from Social Security Scotland: call 0808 196 8901.

A consultation, only if one is needed

Social Security Scotland decides based on your application form and supporting information. In some cases it may invite you to a consultation with a health and social care practitioner, but only if it is the only way to get the information needed. The consultation can be by phone, by video call, at a local public venue or in your own home. It is not a diagnosis or medical examination and only covers the areas of your application that need more information.

Social Security Scotland writes with its decision, called a notice of determination. If your application is successful it says which parts you get, daily living, mobility or both, and how much for each. If it is not, it says why. Social Security Scotland says processing can take longer because of high demand.

You are entitled to the payment from the earliest date possible, not from the date of the letter. That is when you submitted part 1 online or completed part 1 over the phone. The regulations back this up: if you apply within 8 weeks of the day you first gave your full name and date of birth, entitlement can start from that day, and Social Security Scotland can accept a late application if there is a good reason. Your first payment comes after the first 4 weeks have passed, then every 4 weeks.

While you wait, tell Social Security Scotland if anything changes that affects your condition or needs, if you move house, if you stay in hospital, residential accommodation or legal detention for 28 days or more, or if your payment details change. If you no longer want to apply you can ask them to withdraw the application, if no decision has been made.

Social Security Scotland reviews your award regularly. Your decision letter gives your first review date, and each review ends by telling you when the next one is. You may get an indefinite award, which is not reviewed unless you report a change, if your needs are very unlikely to change and you are awarded the enhanced rate of both parts. After Social Security Scotland sends your review pack, you have 28 days to complete and return it.

You must tell Social Security Scotland if your condition gets better or worse in the longer term, the level of help you need changes, you move away from Scotland, you go into or come out of a care home, residential school, prison, detention facility, hospital or hospice, or you are awarded another benefit that might affect your entitlement. You do not need to report day to day changes in your condition if your overall needs stay the same. If you do not report a change that could affect your award you may be committing an offence under section 72 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. You can report a change by calling 0800 182 2222 or online.

Stays in a care home, hospital or detention

• ✓Yes: Care home: the daily living part drops to £0 from the day after you have been resident for 28 days, unless the full cost of your care is met from your own resources, from another person's, from a charity, or a mix of those. If a local authority pays, the daily living part stops after 28 days
• ✓Yes: Hospital: if you are 18 or over and are an in-patient and any of the costs are met from public funds, both parts drop to £0 from the day after 28 days. Separate stays count together if there is no more than 28 days between them
• ✓Yes: Legal detention: both parts drop to £0 from the day after 28 days in detention if you are 18 or over
• ✓Yes: Hospice: these rules do not apply if you live in a hospice and are terminally ill

If your award changes after a review, it can affect other benefits. Tell your local council, HM Revenue and Customs, DWP and the DVLA if you get benefits from them.

PIP

Social Security Scotland says it has transferred all the PIP cases it expected to move to Adult Disability Payment, and that from 6 November 2025 anyone in Scotland who gets PIP has to make a new application. If you still get PIP and have not had a letter from Social Security Scotland, contact it on 0800 182 2222.

You cannot get PIP and Adult Disability Payment at the same time. If you apply for PIP, DWP sends your application to Social Security Scotland, who use it as an application for Adult Disability Payment, and you get payments from the date you applied for PIP if you succeed. The same applies if you send a PIP application form to Social Security Scotland.

Disability Living Allowance for adults

From 21 March 2025, adults in Scotland still getting DLA from DWP started having their awards moved to Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance. If you get Scottish Adult DLA and were born on or after 9 April 1948, you can choose to apply for Adult Disability Payment, but you could get more, less or no help, so mygov.scot says to get independent advice first. When you confirm, Social Security Scotland replaces your payments with an interim award of the same amounts. Once an interim award starts you cannot go back to Scottish Adult DLA. If the full decision is higher it is backdated to the day you completed part 1, and if it is lower it takes effect from the day of the full decision.

Child Disability Payment

You need to apply for Adult Disability Payment even if you get Child Disability Payment. You can apply any time from when you are 15 and soon to turn 16 until your 18th birthday, and if you succeed you will not have any gaps between payments. If you are terminally ill you do not need to apply to move.

Moving between Scotland and England or Wales

If you get PIP and move from England or Wales to Scotland, tell DWP and make a new claim for Adult Disability Payment. Your PIP stops 13 weeks after you move, so apply as soon as possible. If you get Adult Disability Payment and move to England or Wales, tell Social Security Scotland and make a new claim for PIP.

There are two stages and you cannot skip the first. If you appeal without first asking for a re-determination, your appeal will not be accepted. If your circumstances have changed since you applied, report a change instead, because Social Security Scotland will then review your case.

Late requests can be accepted if you give a good reason, such as illness and hospitalisation, and as long as you ask no more than one year after the letter. You can ask for a re-determination or an appeal online, by phoning 0800 182 2222, or on a paper form posted to Social Security Scotland, PO Box 10303, Dundee, DD1 9FY. If Social Security Scotland misses its deadline you can appeal against the original decision without waiting.

After you appeal, Social Security Scotland has 7 working days to send your case to the Tribunal. If a hearing is needed you can explain your view in person or in advance, and you can choose someone to represent you. If you disagree with the Tribunal you can ask for a review or for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

For free advice, Citizens Advice Scotland is on 0800 028 1456 and Advocacy.Scot is on 0808 196 8901. In England and Wales the equivalent first step for PIP is a mandatory reconsideration, see our mandatory reconsideration guide.

If you get Adult Disability Payment you may qualify for extra support with living costs, travel and transport, and low income. It is not added automatically. You, or someone responsible for you, apply for it, and the rates of your payment affect what you can apply for. Try to apply as soon as you can, because some organisations cannot backdate payments.

If you get Universal Credit, tell DWP if your benefit moves to Social Security Scotland, either through your account or on 0800 328 5644, so your payments continue.

• ✓Yes: Phone: 0800 182 2222, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, except bank holidays. It is free from any phone, and if you cannot call 0800 numbers from your mobile you can call free from a payphone or landline
• ✓Yes: Webchat: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, except bank holidays, to check progress or tell them something has changed. It is quicker if you have your National Insurance number. They will never ask for your bank details through webchat
• ✓Yes: Post: Social Security Scotland, General Enquiries, PO Box 10301, Dundee, DD1 9FY
• ✓Yes: From outside the UK: +44 (0)1382 931 000. It is not free, but you can ask them to call you back
• ✓Yes: British Sign Language: use Contact Scotland BSL to call by video

Social Security Scotland will never phone you to take a payment, and will only ever give you one phone number in a text or email, which is 0800 182 2222.

Adult Disability Payment only exists in Scotland. In England and Wales you claim PIP from DWP, and in Northern Ireland you claim PIP from the Department for Communities. See our PIP guide for those routes. If you live in Scotland and are over State Pension age, see Pension Age Disability Payment, and for a child see our children's disability guide.