Reported relevant change of circumstance

Where a Scottish resident in receipt of Disability Living Allowance reports a relevant change of circumstances to the Department for Work and Pensions, and they were born on or after 9 April 1948, their case will be selected for transfer and an initial determination without application (the “transfer determination”) of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance will be made. This transfer determination will not take the reported change into account, and the resulting Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance award will be for the same components at the same rates as the Disability Living Allowance award before the change was reported (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Schedule 1, Part 2, Reg 6, Para 7(4))

As soon as reasonably practicable after the transfer determination is made, a subsequent “review determination” must be made (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Schedule 1, Part 2, Para 10(2))

This review determination must take into account the change that was reported to the Department of Work and Pensions or to Social Security Scotland after the transfer notice was sent (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Schedule 1, Part 2, Para 10(3)(b)).

Reported relevant change of circumstances after reaching the relevant age

Where an individual notified a change of circumstances that occurred after they reached the relevant age, meaning:

• state pension age (within the meaning given by the rules in paragraph 1 of schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995) , or
• 65, if their state pension age was lower than 65

they may only be entitled to the same rate of the mobility component they received in Disability Living Allowance. This only applies if the entitlement arises from substantially the same condition or conditions in respect of which their mobility component was given (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Reg 19(3)). Any changes to the care component after someone reaches the relevant age are subject to a 26 weeks backwards qualifying period, compared to 13 weeks for individuals under the relevant age.

Reported relevant change of circumstances backdating

When the review determination made because of a reported relevant change of circumstances leads to an increased Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance award, this should be backdated to (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Reg 40(1)(a)&(c)):

• Where the change is reported within one month of the change occurring, the date the client first satisfies the requirements for an increased rate of the care or mobility component; or
• Where the change is reported more than one month after the change occurred, but within 13 months of it occurring, and where Social Security Scotland considers that the client has good reason for reporting the change late, the date the client first satisfies the requirements for an increased rate of the care or mobility component; or
• where neither of the above apply, the date of notification of the change.

If the backdated date would be a date before the regulations came into force on 21 March 2025, the award should be backdated to 21 March 2025.

Note that satisfying the requirements for the increased rate of either component includes meeting the required period test including the 13 week “backwards test” where someone is under the relevant age. For individuals over the relevant age, the backwards test for the care component is 26 weeks. For the mobility component, the backwards test is 13 weeks, with the added condition that 10 an individual should have been in receipt of that rate since before they reached the relevant age.

The amount of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance they receive for this period should be reduced by the value of the Disability Living Allowance the client was paid for that same period (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Reg 40(4)&(5))

When the review determination made because of a reported relevant change of circumstances leads to no change or a decreased Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance award, the decreased Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance award should not be backdated. Any decrease should take effect from the date of the review determination (Scottish Adult DLA Regs, Reg 41(e)).