Disability test: care component
To get the care component, the child must have a physical or mental disability which means they need the following kind of care from another person. What is important is the help they need rather than the help they actually get.
It can be paid at either the lowest, middle or highest rate.
A child gets the lowest rate if they need attention in connection with bodily functions (see here) for a significant portion of the day. This attention might be given all at once or spread out. It should normally add up to about an hour or more, or be made up of several brief periods. A child gets the middle rate if they need care either during the day or during the night, but not both. They get the middle rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions or one (or both) of the night care conditions.
A child gets the highest rate if they need care both during the day and the night. They get the highest rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions and one (or both) of the night care conditions. Alternatively, they should get the highest rate if they are terminally ill. This means that they have a progressive disease and can reasonably be expected to die as a result within 12 months.
There is no lower age limit for the care component. A child under 16 must show that their need for attention or supervision is substantially in excess of the normal needs of other children of the same age without a disability or similar to those of a younger child without a disability.
Day care conditions
•A child needs frequent attention throughout the day in connection with their bodily functions (see here). This means they may qualify if they need help several times (not just once or twice), spread throughout the day. If they need help just in the mornings and evenings, for instance, they may get the lowest rate. •A child needs continual supervision throughout the day in order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others. The supervision needs to be frequent or regular, but need not be literally continuous.
Night care conditions
•A child needs prolonged or repeated attention at night in connection with their bodily functions (see here). They should qualify if they need help once in the night for 20 minutes or more. They should also qualify if they need help twice in the night (or more often), however long it takes. •In order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others, a child needs another person to be awake at night for a prolonged period (20 minutes or more) or at frequent intervals (three times or more) to watch over them.
Attention with bodily functions
This is help from someone to do personal things a child cannot do entirely by themself. Bodily functions are things like breathing, hearing, seeing, eating, drinking, walking, sitting, sleeping, getting in or out of bed, dressing, undressing, communicating and using the toilet. Any help in connection with an impaired bodily function counts if it involves personal contact (physical or verbal in your presence) and it is reasonably required.