How to Prepare a Child DLA Claim Yourself Without Paying a Claims Company

If you want to prepare your child's DLA claim yourself instead of paying a claims company, you are making a reasonable choice. The DLA1 Child form is long — 40 pages — but it is not complicated in the way that tax or legal forms are complicated. It asks you to describe your child's daily life: the care they need, how often they need it, and how that compares to a child the same age without a disability. Nobody knows those answers better than you do.

Claims companies charge 15–35% of backdated awards, which can reach several hundred pounds. What they provide is time-saving, not special knowledge. The form questions are the same regardless of who fills them in, and the decision rests on the evidence submitted, not on who wrote it.

Here is how to do the preparation yourself.

Step 1: Start a Care Diary Before You Open the Form

The single biggest mistake parents make is starting the DLA1 Child form cold — sitting down with the blank pack and trying to answer questions about care needs from memory. Memory understates. You will write "she needs help getting dressed" when the reality is 25 minutes of coaxing through sensory distress, physical assistance with fastenings, and redirection when she gets stuck in a loop.

Start a diary before you plan to write the form. The DWP says one day's record may be enough if your child's needs are mostly the same; if they vary, record different days. Record every care action across a full 24-hour cycle:

• What the care action was (dressing, feeding, toileting, administering medication, calming a meltdown, redirecting unsafe behaviour)
• How long it took
• How often it happens — every day, most days, on difficult days
• What happens on the worst days versus typical days
• Night-time wakings: what time, why, how long you were up, what you had to do

This diary becomes source material for the care and mobility questions on the form. It is also a practical source for the specific examples you write in the form; the DWP says you do not have to send the diary itself.

Step 2: Gather Evidence Before You Need It

The DLA1 Child form asks for details of professionals involved with your child. Gathering their evidence in advance means you are not chasing letters while the six-week window for treating your form request date as your claim date ticks down.

School evidence is particularly valuable and often overlooked. The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator — called ALNCo in Wales) can describe how your child's needs are met in the classroom, what adaptations are in place, and how your child's requirements compare with their peers. A letter from the school carries weight because it is an independent observation of daily functioning.

GP and health visitor records are straightforward to request. You do not need a consultant letter or a formal diagnosis — functional evidence of care needs is what matters.

Therapy and specialist reports — occupational therapy, speech and language, physiotherapy, CAMHS — should be submitted where available. Each report confirms a professional's observation of the child's needs.

Organise everything with dates, authors and which form questions each piece supports. An indexed evidence pack is easier for a decision-maker to follow than a loose pile of letters.

Step 3: Understand What the Decision-Maker Assesses

DLA for children is not scored on points the way adult PIP is. For the care component, the comparison is whether your child needs much more looking after than a child of the same age without a disability. A child may also qualify if they have difficulty getting about.

This means you need to describe not just what you do, but why it is different from what a parent of a same-age child without a disability would do. A 3-year-old needing help with dressing is typical. A 7-year-old needing the same level of physical help, plus 20 minutes of sensory preparation before they can tolerate clothing, is not.

The form covers two components:

Care component — personal care (washing, dressing, eating, toileting), supervision to avoid danger, and attention in connection with bodily functions. Three rates: lowest (help for some of the day in England and Wales; help for some of the day or night in Northern Ireland), middle (frequent help or continual supervision during the day in England and Wales; frequent help or constant supervision during the day in Northern Ireland; supervision at night; or help while on dialysis), highest (help or supervision throughout both day and night, or nearing the end of life).

Mobility component — the level of help the child needs getting about. Lower rate from age 5, higher rate from age 3 in specific circumstances.

Step 4: Fill In the Form With Your Diary Open

When you sit down with the DLA1 Child form, have your care diary, evidence index and any professional reports beside you. For each question:

• Answer using specific examples from the diary, not generalisations
• Include frequency ("four times a day," "every night") and duration ("takes about 20 minutes each time")
• Describe worst days as well as typical days — the form asks about both
• Explain what would happen if the care was not provided (risk of harm, distress, inability to complete the task)
• Use the continuation sheets if you run out of space — decision-makers need detail

Step 5: Keep Everything for Renewals

Most Child DLA awards are fixed-term, meaning you will need to complete a renewal form (DLA1A) when the period ends. If you have kept your care diary, evidence index and a copy of what you wrote on the original form, the renewal is a comparison exercise: here is what we described last time, here is how needs have changed.

Parents who used a claims company for the original claim often have no records of what was submitted, making the renewal harder, not easier.

Where to Get Free Support Alongside Your Own Preparation

Preparing the claim yourself does not mean doing it alone:

• Contact (0808 808 3555) — free helpline and detailed Child DLA guide
• Cerebra — step-by-step form guide for children with brain conditions and neurodevelopmental differences
• Citizens Advice — online guidance and, in some areas, face-to-face form-filling appointments
• Advicenow — mandatory reconsideration toolkit if the decision is wrong
• Condition-specific charities — the National Autistic Society, Crohn's & Colitis UK, the Children's Heart Federation and others publish guidance linking their condition to DLA questions

The Child DLA Claim Guide provides a structured version of this preparation: a Day and Night Care Diary, an Evidence Cover Sheet, a School Evidence Request Letter, and section-by-section form guidance focused on what decision-makers look for. It is designed to sit alongside the free resources, not replace them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to prepare a child DLA claim yourself?

Most parents spend 2–3 weeks on preparation if they start the care diary first. The form itself takes several hours spread across a few sittings. Rushing it in one session is the main cause of understated answers.

Is there any advantage to using a claims company instead?

The main advantage is time — someone else handles the form. The disadvantage is cost (15–35% of backdated payments) and the loss of detailed records for renewals. The decision-maker sees the same form questions regardless of who fills them in.

What if I get stuck partway through the form?

Contact's helpline (0808 808 3555) is available during working hours and specifically covers Child DLA. Citizens Advice may offer a follow-up appointment. The DWP and DfC information booklets included with the claim pack have worked examples for each section.

Can I submit the form without professional evidence?

Yes. Professional evidence strengthens a claim, but the form is designed to be completed from your own account of the child's daily care needs. Your diary entries and descriptions of daily life are valid evidence. Many successful claims include no consultant letter at all.

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