Guide to disability related expenses

Disability related expenses (DRE) are extra costs that a person may have to pay because of their disability or care need. DRE only relates to non-residential care and to people who have been assessed to contribute towards the cost of their care. If you are a self-funder, you will not be able to receive a DRE allowance as you have been assessed to pay the full cost of the care you receive. Norfolk County Council may allow these costs as part of your financial assessment for non-residential care which could reduce the amount you have to pay for your care.

Non-residential care can include:

• Home support
• Day care
• Direct payments
• Housing with care
• Supported living

We will ask five key questions when considering your claim for DRE:

1. Do you receive disability benefits?
   This includes the care component of disability living allowance, the daily living element of personal independence payments, or attendance allowance.
   DREs will not be more than the amount of benefit that Norfolk County Council include as part of your financial assessment. For example, if your disability benefit is £92.40 per week but we include £61.85, your DRE amount cannot be higher than £61.85.
2. Is the expense necessary?
   This means that the expense is a need rather than a choice and someone’s day-to-day life would be negatively affected if they did not pay for this expense. For example, if a person was socially isolated and required access to the internet for keeping in touch with their friends and family, we would consider this expense to be eligible.
3. Is the expense reasonable?
   This means that the expense is not considerably higher than that of similar expenses. For example, if a DRE claim is for something that costs £500 but something else could met your needs and costs £200, we’d say that the higher amount is not reasonable. We would allow the lower amount.
4. Is the expense directly linked to the person’s disability, medical condition, or care need?
   This means that the expense is only required because of a person’s disability, medical condition, or care need and that someone who did not have the same specific need would not have to pay for this expense. For example, a person who is not disabled or does not have a care need or a medical condition would not require a community alarm.
5. Is the expense able to be met by any other means?
   This means that the expense cannot be paid for by other means – we would check if it is included in a person’s personal budget, or if the NHS has agreed to pay it. For example, if a person is unable to maintain the cleanliness of their home and a cleaner cannot be funded from anywhere else it would be allowed as a DRE.