The heating goes on earlier every week now. Your child’s feed pump or suction machine needs to run through the night.
Their body doesn’t regulate temperature the way yours does, so the room has to stay warm, and the meter ticks through all of it.
Families raising a disabled child pay an extra £1,596 a year on average, just to run the equipment that keeps their child safe and comfortable. That’s according to a survey of nearly 4,000 families by the charity Contact. Over a third have had to cut back on using essential equipment because of the cost.
Five schemes can put real money back into your budget this winter. None of them need a diagnosis: the £150 Warm Home Discount, a WaterSure-capped water bill, refunded hospital travel, a car taxed at £0, and 0% VAT on an adapted vehicle. Most need you to apply, not just wait for a letter.
What we looked for
The schemes are open to parents and carers alike, mostly on the basis of income or an existing benefit, not a named condition.
They apply in England.
Our guide to Family Fund and other charity grants already owns equipment grants and the general VAT relief rules, so we haven’t repeated that ground here.
Last checked: 29 July 2026, against the live gov.uk, Ofgem, and NHS pages listed in the sources below.
Warm Home Discount: £150 off your electricity bill
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) alone doesn’t qualify you for the Warm Home Discount. The qualifying benefits are means-tested ones, mostly Universal Credit. If your Universal Credit award includes your child’s disabled child addition, though, the UC claim itself is what passports you in, not the DLA or PIP underneath it.
The government confirmed in early 2026 that the scheme continues at £150 a year, every winter, right through to 2030/31.
| Eligibility | You (or your partner) get Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or Income Support, with your name on the electricity bill and a participating supplier. DLA or PIP alone doesn’t count. |
| What it’s worth | £150 off your electricity bill, once each scheme year, confirmed at this rate through winter 2030/31. |
| How to apply | Automatic for most eligible households: a letter arrives confirming the discount once the scheme year opens. No letter and you think you qualify? Contact the Warm Home Discount helpline on 0800 030 9322. |
This applies in England and Wales; Scotland runs its own eligibility process for the same scheme. It won’t help if your supplier wasn’t on the participating list on the qualifying date, and switching to one after that date only counts from the following year.
WaterSure: capping your water bill
Extra washing from your child’s incontinence or eczema can qualify your family for WaterSure, a scheme that caps what you pay rather than charging for every litre you actually use.
Unlike the Warm Home Discount, WaterSure is never automatic. You have to ask your water company directly, and it’s worth doing: households already using the scheme save more than £300 a year on average.
| Eligibility | A water meter, a qualifying means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit, and either a medical condition needing extra water (such as incontinence, eczema or psoriasis) or 3 or more children under 19 at home. |
| What it’s worth | Your bill is capped at your water company’s average bill for the area, saving eligible households more than £300 a year on average. |
| How to apply | Contact your water company directly, not gov.uk, for the application form. You’ll need a benefit letter under a year old and a GP letter or stamp for the medical route. Most companies decide within 10 working days. |
The government has confirmed it will extend WaterSure eligibility to households on a disability benefit with income below £25,745 a year, without needing the separate means-tested route. That’s estimated to bring in 52,897 more households.
Secondary legislation hasn’t been laid yet, so no start date is confirmed. The change applies to England only, since Wales isn’t taking it forward, so check gov.uk again nearer the time rather than assuming it’s already live.
It won’t help if you’re not metered. You can ask your water company for a free meter first, then apply once it’s fitted.
NHS travel costs: getting specialist appointment costs back
DLA and PIP don’t count here either. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) reimburses travel to specialist NHS appointments, but only through a different set of qualifying benefits.
Claims must reach the NHS within 3 months of the appointment. Miss the window and the claim can’t be paid, whatever the reason for the delay.
| Eligibility | You (or your partner) get Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, or Universal Credit with take-home pay under £435 a month (£935 with a child element or limited capability for work), or hold an HC2 or HC3 low income certificate. The appointment must be specialist NHS care, on a separate visit from the referral. |
| What it’s worth | The cheapest reasonable transport cost: mileage, parking, tolls, and a companion’s fare where a clinician confirms a parent needs to travel with the child. |
| How to apply | Claim at the hospital cashier’s desk on the day, or post form HC5(T) with your receipts and appointment letter within 3 months. |
If your child can’t use ordinary transport at all for medical reasons, ask about Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPTS) instead. It’s free transport arranged directly by the NHS, based on clinical need alone, with no means test. It’s for children who need ambulance-crew skills or specialist equipment during the journey.
NEPTS is separate from the school run too. If it’s term-time transport to school you’re struggling with rather than hospital visits, our school transport guide covers your council’s separate duty there.
Vehicle tax exemption: paying nothing to tax the car
If your child’s mobility award qualifies, the car that does the school run and the hospital runs can be taxed at £0.
| Eligibility | Your child gets DLA higher rate mobility component or PIP enhanced rate mobility component (full exemption), or PIP standard rate mobility component (50% reduction). DLA lower rate mobility doesn’t qualify for either. |
| What it’s worth | £0 vehicle tax (full exemption) or half the standard rate, on one vehicle registered to your child or a nominated driver. |
| How to apply | First claim only: take the V5C, entitlement certificate (DLA404 or the PIP award letter), and a valid MOT to a Post Office in person. Renewals afterwards can be done online or by phone. For the 50% reduction, you claim by post to DVLA instead, with the documents gov.uk lists. |
If your family already has a Motability lease vehicle, its tax is included automatically, which uses the exemption unless you pay that car’s tax yourself to free it for a second vehicle. Our DLA rates guide explains which mobility rate your child’s award actually carries.
It won’t help once the underlying mobility award changes. If it drops to a lower rate or ends, the vehicle has to come out of the disabled tax class straight away or DVLA can issue a penalty.
VAT relief on an adapted vehicle
We’ve already covered how VAT relief works for equipment like wheelchairs and building adaptations in our Family Fund grants guide. The same 0% rate applies to an adapted vehicle too.
| Eligibility | The vehicle is adapted for a wheelchair or stretcher user, and the adaptation is substantial and permanent. You (or a parent signing for a child) give the supplier a completed customer eligibility declaration, form VAT1615A. |
| What it’s worth | 0% VAT instead of 20% on the vehicle price. |
| How to apply | Hand the supplier form VAT1615A before the sale completes. There’s no separate HMRC claim; the dealership applies the zero rate at the point of sale. |
This only comes round once every 3 years per disabled person, starting from the date you took delivery of your last zero-rated vehicle. There are exceptions if the old vehicle was stolen or destroyed, or if your child’s condition has changed enough that it’s no longer suitable. For a condition change, you’ll need a letter from HMRC before the supplier can zero-rate the replacement.
What to do this month
Check your Universal Credit award for the Warm Home Discount, then call your water company about WaterSure. Check your child’s DLA or PIP mobility rate against the vehicle tax table above too.
If a claim is refused anywhere along the way, ask for the reasons in writing first. For water bill complaints, the Consumer Council for Water can look at unresolved disputes once your water company’s own process is exhausted. For everything else here, Citizens Advice can help you check eligibility before you apply.
And if it’s equipment grants or Family Fund you’re after rather than these five, that’s a different guide: Grants for Disabled Children: Family Fund and More.