The extra cost of disability

Living with disability is already a daily uphill battle, with many facing additional associated costs.

On average, it costs more than £1,000 a month to live with a disability, according to Scope’s latest report.

The charity’s Disability Price Tag report looked at the extra costs that disabled households face due to their conditions and the cost-of-living crisis before suggesting six improvements they want to see.

A number of households also shared their stories of constantly struggling with money and the effect this has had on their physical and emotional wellbeing.

Life costs more if you’re disabled

Using the most recent data (2022 to 2023), Scope found that households with at least one disabled adult or child needs an extra £1,010 a month to have the same standard of living as someone without disability.

On average, that’s 67% of household income after housing costs.

If adjusted for inflation, these costs reach £1,067 a month in 2024.

Not only does this make it hard to build savings and plan for the future, this extra financial pressure can have a detrimental effect to people’s health and wellbeing too.

Other findings

Scope also found:

• Almost one third of disabled households are in poverty (31%).
• More than four in 10 (42%) of personal independence payment (PIP) claimants are in the poorest 20%.
• Disabled households are more likely than non-disabled households to be in ‘deep’ poverty.
• Food basics are the biggest expense for disabled households with some relying on food banks.
• Households were worried about essential costs being misidentified as luxury spending, e.g. pre-prepared food or grocery delivery, specific clothing or technology.

‘It’s very expensive to be disabled’

It’s easy to see how these extra costs can quickly add up.

Many disabled households live with ‘inescapable’ extra costs needed for daily living, including specialist related products or services, e.g. home adaptations, mobility aids, specific food or medicine.

And although households are cutting costs where possible, reducing outgoings can be particularly hard when you need to spend more on energy, water or transport to manage your condition.

Adriana said:

“It’s very expensive to be disabled. It’s anything from the clothes you wear, to the products you need, to the food you put in your mouth.”

Scope outlines three main ways disabled households are trying to cover these higher costs:

• benefits, grants and awards – use our free benefits calculator to see if you’re getting everything you’re entitled to and see which grants are available via Turn2Us
• relying on friends and family to support personal care and assistance
• going without the things they need

Disability and debt

Disability benefits rarely cover additional costs in full, while rising living costs and barriers to employment are all challenges faced by disabled households.

Others have drained their savings and fallen into debt as a result.

Charlie said he’s worried because he’s “slipping further and further into debt” as he relies on PayPal credit and buy now, pay later to buy things before struggling to pay it off before the interest-free period ends.

Heartbreakingly, some are going without the necessities – including medical treatment or support – because they’re concerned about the price.

Last winter, Alix caught a chest infection and flu after they tried to avoid heating their house while Charlie, who couldn’t afford to heat his, needed life-saving steroid injections twice after the cold triggered an adrenal crisis.

Suzanne said her home turned “to really old fashioned things” after cutting back, “like generating heat from a candle”.

Reduce costs and improve support

The disability charity wants to see these six changes:

• a fairer, more transparent benefits system that better supports disabled people with extra costs
• replacing work capability assessments with an improved alternative which includes fairer assessment criteria and input from those with disabilities
• government working with disabled people to overhaul personal independence payment so it at least covers the essentials
• essential utilities to always be affordable for those with disabilities, including a discounted energy bills scheme and for disability benefits to be included in the warm home discount eligibility criteria
• a government-funded ‘help to repay’ scheme to help clear utility debt
• government to make sure energy efficiency spending is better targeted towards disabled households

Help and support

Scope’s report is an important step in highlighting the financial challenges faced by disabled people; check out our guide on disability, sickness and carer benefits to make sure you’re getting everything you’re entitled to.

If you're struggling to make ends meet, you can also get in touch for free and impartial debt advice. You can access it online 24/7 or over the phone during our office hours – 0161 518 8285.