Our Benefits Advice Service can help you claim the benefits, tax credits or allowances to which you are entitled if you are blind or partially sighted.
Claiming your full entitlement
The benefits system can seem very confusing. It's not always easy to know what you qualify for or what to put on the form.
We offer a confidential benefits check and advisory service free of charge for blind and partially sighted people. Our qualified advisers can provide information on the full range of social security benefits, tax credits and other allowances or concessions available to people with sight loss. We can assist you in claiming your full entitlement and support you in any appeal you may have to make.
Making an appointment
The service is available by appointment over the telephone, or in any of our premises in Omagh, Coleraine, Derry/Londonderry or Belfast. In exceptional circumstances we may also be able to arrange home visits.
To make an appointment, email us at benefitsni@rnib.org.uk or call us on 028 9032 9373. We will take down a few details and ask one of our advisers to contact you as soon as possible. The service is very popular, and we would ask for your patience, but we will try to arrange an appointment as quickly as we can.
Finding out more about benefits
The Social Security Agency provides lots of information on benefits for people with disabilities.
Changes to Disability Living Allowance
We were delighted at our campaign success in March 2009 in changing the rules governing Disability Living Allowance (DLA). People with serious sight loss can now qualify for the higher rate of the mobility component of this benefit. Hundreds of blind people in Northern Ireland will be better off to the tune of some £30 a week as a result.
The changes took effect on 11 April, 2011.
The Disability and Carers Service should've now contacted people who may be eligible. They are asking for documentary evidence of your degree of sight, as not everyone registered blind will qualify. If in doubt, and in particular if your sight has deteriorated since you were registered blind, then you should ask the Department to arrange a fresh assessment of your level of sight loss.
Personal Independence Payment
From 2013 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will become Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
PIP will replace DLA and will continue to be a non-means tested benefit. There will be two components, mobility and daily living needs.
If you are currently in receipt of DLA, you will be contacted in 2013/14 and asked to attend a medical assessment to determine whether you are eligible to migrate from DLA over to PIP.
Blind and partially sighted people are likely to lose out under this new system. According to the UK Government's own figures, about half a million people will lose entitlement altogether as DLA is replaced by PIP. While others will qualify for a lower rate than they currently receive.
There are a number of areas where we feel that the impact of sight loss has not been properly recognised.
For more details, and for further in-depth information on PIP and what it all means.
Visit RNIB's webpage all about PIP
You can also find links to other resources including how to get involved in our campaign against negative changes to the welfare and benefits system.
Contact us
if you wish to make an appointment with our Benefits Advice Service, you can reach us at RNIB NI Belfast:
Tel: 028 9032 9373
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