Overview

Short-term assistance is a new temporary payment. You can apply for this payment if you ask Social Security Scotland to look at their decision about your Child Disability Payment again. This process is called a re-determination. 

How it works

If your Child Disability Payment is reduced or stopped, short-term assistance replaces the difference in payment.  

This means you’ll continue to be paid the same amount of money you received before your payments were reduced or stopped.

Short-term assistance ends when a new decision about your Child Disability Payment is made.

You can only get short-term assistance if you:

• apply for a re-determination
• appeal a decision to reduce or stop your benefit 

You’ll be paid short-term assistance in the same way as you’re paid Child Disability Payment. 

When to apply

You must apply for short-term assistance at the same time you apply for:

• a re-determination 
• an appeal  

You cannot apply for short-term assistance after Social Security Scotland make their new Child Disability Payment decision.

If the Tribunal makes an appeal decision before you apply for short-term assistance,  you'll not be able to get this payment. 

Your Child Disability Payment decision and appeal

If you apply for short-term assistance, it does not affect:

• Social Security Scotland’s new decision about your Child Disability Payment
• the Tribunal appeal decision

Your short-term assistance payments

Regardless of Social Security Scotland’s new Child Disability Payment decision or your appeal outcome, you do not have to pay back short-term assistance.

You'll only have to pay short-term assistance back if:

• Social Security Scotland find you applied for the original Child Disability Payments fraudulently when they paid you short-term assistance
• you were paid short-term assistance by mistake

Arrears and backdated payments 

If your re-determination or appeal is successful and you’re due any arrears or backdated payments, Social Security Scotland will ensure they do not overpay you.  

Social Security Scotland will deduct any short-term assistance paid from those arrears.