Charities mobilise to end benefits injustice

29th April 2005

New campaign: Mobilise - End age discrimination in disability benefits

A call to end the age barrier of 65 in claiming disability benefits is being made today by one of the largest and most powerful coalition of organisations working in the fields of disability and ageing.

Over 20 leading charities are lending their weight to the campaign entitled: Mobilise - End age discrimination in disability benefits. They are urging their supporters and the greater public to lobby their MPs and Ministers, to approach their local media and to use every platform and opportunity to speak out about this injustice.

At the moment you can claim Disability Living Allowance, a non-means-tested benefit for people with care or mobility needs, up to the age of 65. Those people who claim DLA before their 65th birthday can continue to receive it thereafter.

However, if you become disabled or ill at or after the age of 65 you can only claim the less valuable benefit of Attendance Allowance. Unlike DLA this does not include any help with mobility needs or with lower-level care needs.

The denial of the mobility component of DLA, which can be worth up to £41 a week, is one of the most serious injustices in the current system. Without access to this component, older people cannot get other help which can be available for disabled people such as the car tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) exemption and access to the Government- supported Motability scheme, for buying and insuring adapted cars.

Lack of mobility is a major factor in creating or exacerbating dependency among older people. Early support is vital in preventing a vicious circle of dependency - and ultimately greater costs for health and social care. Without help with the costs of staying mobile, older people are severely limited and their quality of life is seriously curtailed.

The Mobilise campaign believes that:

the upper limit of 65 for claiming Disability Living Allowance is discriminatory and based on outdated concepts of ageing and retirement
people should not be denied the financial help they need to remain active, healthy and engaged in their communities purely on the basis of age. It devalues the role of older people in society

The Mobilise campaign is calling on the Government to:

make available to all disabled people, regardless of their age, the financial assistance they need to allow them to stay mobile and play an active part in society: not special treatment - just fair and equal treatment

Paul Cann, Director of Policy, Help the Aged, says:

"The denial of these entitlements under an arbitrary age barrier is having a devastating effect on some of the most vulnerable people in our society. For example, some people have conditions that deteriorate rapidly after the age of 65: others develop a condition at the age of 64 that is not diagnosed until after the age of 65.

"As we live longer, people expect to be healthy and independent well beyond the age of 65. Nowadays we expect to enjoy many years of active retirement whether or not they are disabled - contributing to society in a variety of ways.

"The Government has stated publicly that it wants to enable people to live independent, healthy, active lives as they get older. It has also made clear its commitment to ending age discrimination. By denying access to DLA on the basis of age alone, the Government flies in the face of its own principles. Age discrimination in disability benefit must end."

Last updated: February 23, 2007