Disability Allowance

You may be able to get a Disability Allowance if you:

• have a disability that is likely to last at least six months
• have regular, ongoing costs because of your disability that are not fully covered by another agency
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
• normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay here.

It also depends on how much you and your partner earn.

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Child under 18

You may be able to get both the Disability Allowance and the Child Disability Allowance for your child if they're:

• under 18
• financially dependent on you
• have a serious disability.

You can't get a Disability Allowance if you get board payments from Child, Youth and Family for the child.

We pay you up to a maximum of $62.37 a week for Disability Allowance and it's not taxed. How much you get depends on the extra costs you have because of your disability.

The Disability Allowance can help pay for a number of things, as long as your doctor tells us you need them because of your disability. Here are some of the things we may be able to help with, and the sorts of proof we need to see - so keep all your receipts.

Some of the extra costs we may be able to help with...	We'll need to see...
Doctor's, specialist's and hospital fees that aren't already subsidised	Receipts or invoices showing the date, cost and reason for your visit
Prescription fees	Receipts or print-outs from your chemist showing the date, cost, the item you received and whether it's subsidised
Travel to your doctor, specialist, hospital or counsellor	Tickets or receipts showing the date, cost and how you travelled (if you travelled in your own car, we need to know the cc rating of your car and how far you travelled)
Heating	Your summer and winter electricity bills
Medical alarm rental and monitoring	The Disability Allowance - Medical Assessment for Medical Alarm form completed by a doctor, and the contract or receipt for the installation/rental of the medical alarm.

When your Disability Allowance is reviewed, we need to see evidence of any costs that have increased or are new.

If you are eligible, you will be provided with a Disability Allowance application form to download at the end of Apply Online.

Alternatively, you can download the form.

1. Complete the Disability Allowance application form.
2. Get evidence of your situation (the application form will tell you what to provide).
3. Log in to Connect and upload your form and evidence.

If you're eligible, we can grant you the Disability Allowance from the date you first contact us to ask for help, as long as you complete your application within 20 working days of that date.

Child under 18

You can apply on behalf of a child if they're 18 or under and financially dependent on you.

Applying on behalf of someone else

You can apply for a Disability Allowance on someone else's behalf, but only if they've filled out a form to appoint you as their agent.

If you’re already getting Disability Allowance and your costs change, you need to let us know. If you don't let us know, you may get a debt.

Costs go down

Email us with 'Disability Allowance' as your topic, or call us

Costs go up

You need to fill out a Change of circumstances form and provide evidence of your new costs.