Guidance for community and voluntary sector organisations and local authorities supporting adults on DLA in Scotland transferring to Adult Disability Payment.
This guide is about awards that started moving from DLA to Adult Disability Payment before 21 March 2025.
Before 21 March 2025, some people born on or after 9 April 1948 may have had their DLA award moved to Adult Disability Payment.
This was so changes in their disability or health condition could be reviewed against Adult Disability Payment instead of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) with DWP.
From 21 March 2025, all adults in Scotland still getting DLA from DWP will move to a new benefit called Scottish Adult DLA. Find out more about DLA moving to Scottish Adult DLA.
Adults born on or after 9 April 1948 and living in Scotland who get Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will have their benefit transferred to Social Security Scotland. We’ll work with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to make sure clients:
Before 21 March 2025 clients born on or after 9 April 1948 had their DLA award moved to Adult Disability Payment if:
From 21 March 2025, all adults in Scotland still getting DLA from DWP will move to Scottish Adult DLA. Find out more about moves from DLA to Scottish Adult DLA.
The transfer from DLA to Adult Disability Payment will take around 3 to 4 months.
If the client gets DLA under Special Rules for Terminal Illness, it will take around 1 month.
Clients will have their awards transferred before their DLA ends, so their payments will not be disrupted.
DWP will write to the client to let them know:
We’ll write to the client to confirm these details and to also let the client know:
We’ll check the information we get from DWP to see if the client:
We may need to contact the client if any information is missing or we need to check their details.
We’ll write to the client to tell them:
There will be no review during the transfer of the client’s benefit.
When the transfer is complete, we’ll write to the client and also send them a review form to complete. This form is for the client to tell us about their condition and any changes to their condition. We ask clients to fill this out and return it as soon as they can.
The review of their Adult Disability Payment award is to make sure they are on the right level of payment. We will complete the review within 12 months of the transfer starting.
Social Security Scotland has advisers across Scotland who can help clients to fill in the form. Call Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222.
Clients can also contact the advocacy service provider VoiceAbility on 0300 303 1660.
VoiceAbility can also be contacted by email.
Alternatively, clients can contact Social Security Scotland and ask to be referred to VoiceAbility:
There's also assistance for British Sign Language users.
After the review Social Security Scotland will make a decision on the client’s award.
This decision might affect their:
After the review, a client may be eligible for the Motability Transitional Support Package if their mobility component:
More details about Mobility leases when moving to Adult Disability Payment.
The client may need to share information about their condition or disability with us. They can send documents in the post or upload the documents.
We can gather information from people involved in the client’s care for them. The client just needs to give us the contact details of these people.
Find out more about how we gather supporting information.
If we cannot make a decision from the information in the client’s review form and from the people involved in their care, we’ll invite the client to talk to us directly. This is called a consultation. We’ll only ask them to take part in a consultation if there's no other way to find the information we need for a review.
The consultation can be done by phone, video or in person at a convenient location for the client. We’ll audio record the consultation unless the client asks us not to.
Find out more about how we carry out consultations.
We’ll prioritise transferring the benefits of clients under special rules.
Terminally ill clients do not need to do anything if they are getting DLA because they are terminally ill.
If they are between 16 and state pension age when their Adult Disability Payment award starts they’ll get:
Whatever their age, we will not review their Adult Disability Payment, unless they ask us to.
Our rules about who can get Adult Disability Payment under special rules are different to DWP’s. Before you advise a client to apply under special rules, read our factsheet for clinicians.
The move from DLA to Adult Disability Payment will not affect the client’s entitlement to other benefits and services.
However, they will need to let any organisation that provides those benefits and services know that their benefit is moving. They should do this when they get a letter from Social Security Scotland telling them that the transfer of their benefit is complete.
This is so that the client does not go out of payment for any of their other benefits or lose their access to services such as the Blue Badge.
We’ll write to the client and ask them to confirm which details are correct. If the client does not respond then we’ll default to the details that DWP gave us.
DWP will not gather any information about the change in the client’s condition. DWP will only tell us that the client has reported that their condition has changed.
Once the transfer finishes we’ll:
DWP will tell us about this change. We’ll prioritise this case for transfer and gather the information we need to make a decision about their award.
After we have made a decision about the award, the client will not need any further review.
After the death of the client is confirmed with DWP, DWP will tell us and the transfer will be stopped. We’ll write to the person who reported the death to DWP to tell them that we have stopped the transfer. If DWP do not tell us who reported the death, we’ll send this letter to the client’s address.
The client should tell DWP about any other changes that happen during the transfer, such as a change of address or name. DWP will then tell us about this change so we can update the client's record.
Clients can carry on using their Motability vehicle or equipment until the end of the lease. We’ll take over payments from DWP and let Motability know that the client’s benefit has been transferred.
If the client’s lease ends during the transfer period, they can apply to Motability to renew their lease.
The terms of the client’s lease will remain the same during and after the transfer, and will continue until the end of the lease.
DLA clients living outside the UK with a genuine and sufficient link to Scotland will need to contact DWP and ask to have their benefit transferred to Adult Disability Payment.
We’ll stop the transfer of a client’s benefit if they:
If the client is still eligible for DLA, they will continue to get DLA from DWP.
If the client's benefit stop when it should not call DWP to make sure the client will still get DLA.
The client is entitled to a re-determination from the date of the letter from Social Security Scotland with the client’s decision. Our decision will always be to award a case transfer client at least the same level of Adult Disability Payment as they had for DLA.
A client who disagreed with their Adult Disability Payment award can ask us to carry out a re-determination of their Adult Disability Payment award. They can do this by calling us free on 0800 182 2222 to ask for a re-determination form.
The client should get independent advice before asking for a re-redetermination. This is because they may be better off financially if they wait for their review.
They can seek advice about what to do by:
Clients can also contact the advocacy service provider VoiceAbility on 0300 303 1660.
VoiceAbility can also be contacted by email.
Alternatively, clients can contact Social Security Scotland and ask to be referred to Voicability:
We can only make payments for any Social Security Scotland award into one bank account per client. DWP will give us details of the bank account their DLA was paid into.
If the client has used a different bank account for any other Social Security Scotland payments, we’ll call and then write to the client and find out which one they want us to use. If we cannot get confirmation from the client, we’ll default to the bank account their DLA was paid into. In future we’ll pay any other Social Security Scotland award into this account.
Any changes made by us will not affect where they receive any other benefits from DWP.
When their Adult Disability Payment payments start, the client will see a reference in their bank statement based on their national insurance number and ‘ADP’ for Adult Disability Payment.
DWP will tell us about the client’s communication preferences.
If the client has asked DWP to send them letters in braille or large print, we will send them letters in this format automatically.
If the client has asked DWP to send them letters in another format (such as audio recording or easy read), we’ll send letters in this format to. However it is not done automatically and can take a little longer.
We’ll send both a letter in plain English and a letter in the preferred language or format.
We can usually provide information between 2 and 4 working days in these languages:
For some of our letters, it may take longer.
We can also provide information in other languages but it may take longer.
We can provide information in these formats:
We can provide these services for clients who needs them:
If there is an appointee managing the client’s DLA, Social Security Scotland will need to review their appointment. Scottish law about appointees is different to UK law. It aims to give greater protection to clients. In Scotland the process involves face-to-face visits wherever possible. We’ll contact the appointee at a later date after the transfer to arrange a review.
Read the client representative guidelines.
We’ll not review legal acting bodies, such as someone with power of attorney, a court appointed deputy or a legal guardian. We’ll keep in touch to make sure their authority is still active.
Third party representatives are people who help the client on an informal basis. This could be an interpreter, nurse or family member who can explain processes to the client and help when something needs to be done quickly.
Information about who is acting as a third party representative will not be transferred from DWP to Social Security Scotland. People acting in this role will need to contact us and explain they have helped the client in the past with their DLA.
We’ll check with the client and get verbal or written authorisation that they are happy to carry on with the arrangement. We’ll not share sensitive information like bank accounts or specifics about the client’s condition or circumstances with third party representatives.
The third party representative role can only last for 3 months unless the client has given consent for a longer period. The client can also remove their consent at any time.
The client can give their consent:
A client’s Adult Disability Payment award will be the same as their DLA award once the move is complete. If they've reported a terminal illness to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) it may not be the same.
There will be no gap in their payments.
Their Adult Disability Payment might be paid one working day later than their DLA., In this case, Social Security Scotland will let them know in advance.
A client may be responsible for paying back any Social Security Scotland payments made by mistake.
If a client or the person acting on their behalf is paid too much, Social Security Scotland may:
Social Security Scotland will look at cases of overpayment on an individual basis and will always contact the client before stopping payments.
A client can contact Social Security Scotland if they:
In some circumstances, if Social Security Scotland review a client’s Adult Disability Payment after the move and that results in a higher award, they’ll backdate that award.
This means they’ll change the date of their higher award entitlement to a date in the past. The client will not lose out on any money that’s due to them in the process of moving their benefit from DLA to Adult Disability Payment.
If they backdate their award, it will typically mean the client is due a payment for the backdated period. This makes sure they get the full award amount that they’re entitled to.
Social Security Scotland will pay any amount that’s due to a client from a backdated award automatically. The client does not need to do anything.
Awards can only be backdated after the move from DLA to Adult Disability Payment is complete.
After Social Security Scotland review a client’s award, they’ll send them a letter to let them know if there are any changes to their payments or entitlement.
A client might have their Adult Disability Payment award backdated if either they:
The amount of Adult Disability Payment a client gets for the backdated period will be reduced by any DLA or Adult Disability Payment they’ve already received in that period.
If a client reports a change in their condition before or during their move from DLA to Adult Disability Payment, Social Security Scotland will start the process of reviewing their award after the move is complete.
If that review leads to an increase in their Adult Disability Payment award, their entitlement will be backdated to the date the move completed.
This is similar to when their award would have increased if it had moved from DLA to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
If a client reports they’re terminally ill before or during their move from DLA to Adult Disability Payment, their benefit will move more quickly to Social Security Scotland.
Once their benefit move is complete, Social Security Scotland will pay them weekly. They’ll always get their award payment one week in advance.
If their Adult Disability Payment award increases, their entitlement will be backdated to whichever is the later of:
If a client’s award review leads to no change or a lower Adult Disability Payment award, Social Security Scotland will not backdate it.
The client will not owe Social Security Scotland any money or be disadvantaged by the process of moving their benefit.
The lower award rate would take effect from the date of the decision to reduce the award.
If the client feels the decision is incorrect, they can ask for a re-determination or appeal a new decision.
A client can contact Social Security Scotland if they:
For independent support and advice, clients can contact Citizens Advice Scotland. Either:
If a client needs extra support with disability benefits, they can contact VoiceAbility. They’re independent from Social Security Scotland.
An advocate will listen to the client and try to understand their point of view and what the client wants to happen. They can help client’s apply for benefits and make decisions. They’ll still make any final decisions.
To contact VoiceAbility:
Clients can also ask Social Security Scotland to refer them to VoiceAbility.