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Who can get it

You can apply to the Independent Living Fund if you:

Priority groups

The Independent Living Fund gives different priority to applicants, depending on which group they belong to.

The first priority group includes people who are paid to work 16 hours or more each week.

The second priority group includes people who either:

• get Income Support
• get income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• get income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• get Pension Guarantee Credit 
• have a similar income and whose total care package costs £500 per week or more

How much you can get

The amount you get is based on the cost of the care you need, worked out on an hourly or weekly basis.

The maximum available payment is £455 per week. Your savings, income and certain other benefits and expenses also affect how much you get.

The Independent Living Fund has leaflets explaining this in more detail.

• Information leaflets - Independent Living Fund website Opens new window

How the money is paid

Independent Living Fund payments are made directly into your account. This might be a bank, building society, Post Office or National Savings account.

When your award is reviewed, the Independent Living Fund checks your bank statements. For this reason, many people find it helpful to have a separate account just for the money from the Independent Living Fund. You do not need to have a separate account if you do not want to.

Effect on other benefits

Payments from the fund do not affect your other benefits. This is because they are used to pay for your care and are not counted as income.

When the Independent Living Fund does your financial assessment, it takes into account half of your Disability Living Allowance and full Severe Disability Premium, if you get it.

What you can use it for

You can use payments from the Independent Living Fund to pay for support and services. You can use a care agency or employ your own personal assistant to help you with personal and domestic tasks including:

You may be able to get personal care when you are socialising or at work.

• Employing a professional carer or personal assistant

What you cannot use it for

You cannot use payments from the Independent Living Fund to pay for:

This is not a complete list. Please contact the Independent Living Fund to check if you are unsure about whether you can use your payment for a service.

How to apply

You can download an application form from the Independent Living Fund website. The form includes notes to help you complete it.

You can also ask the social services department of your local council for an Independent Living Fund application form.

• Application forms - Independent Living Fund website Opens new window

• Local councils

What happens next

If you qualify for a payment from the Independent Living Fund, one of their assessors will contact you. They will arrange to visit you together with your local council social worker. The meeting is to talk about the care you need.

After you have been getting payments from the Independent Living Fund for six months, there will be another meeting. This is to see if all your needs are being met and to look at the records you have been keeping.

After that you will normally be visited every two years to check you are still getting the right level of payments.

You can ask to have a friend, relative or your personal assistant at any of the meetings.

Your responsibilities

If you do get money from the Independent Living Fund, you have responsibilities. You must:

• keep records of the people you employ and how much you pay them, or keep the agency invoices
• tell the Independent Living Fund if anything changes in your life, for example changes to the benefits you receive or somebody moving into or out of your home
• return any money that you do not spend on care to the Independent Living Fund

How to appeal

If you are unhappy about a decision or award made by the Independent Living Fund, you can ask for a 'decision review' within four weeks of the decision date.

• Contact the Independent Living Fund Opens new window