What is Disablement Benefit?
Disablement Benefit is a payment given to individuals who lose certain physical or mental abilities as a result of an incident that occurs due to their work, or while commuting to or from work.
How to qualify for Disablement Benefit
To qualify for this benefit, an individual must have worked and paid social insurance (PRSI) contributions at class A, B, D, J, or M and lost physical or mental ability due to:
Rates of Payment
The payment depends on the degree of disablement, which will be medically assessed. If an individual is assessed as being disabled by less than 20% of normal ability, the Disablement Benefit will normally be a lump sum.
For assessments of 20% upwards, the payment will be a weekly pension.
Injuries or diseases sustained since 1 January 2012 can only result in payment where the level of disablement is at least 15%. Before then, payment could be made where the level of disablement ranged from 1% to 100%.
Additional Support
If an individual is receiving a Disablement Pension and is permanently incapable of work as a result of a work-related injury or disease, they can claim Incapacity Supplement Application Form (OB21).
If an individual is getting a Disablement Pension of over 50% and is disabled as a result of a work-related injury or disease which requires daily assistance at home, they may be entitled to a Constant Attendance Allowance only if the department’s medical advisor recommends it. There is no formal application form. This allowance is €237 a week.
If a specific person is caring for the disabled individual, they may qualify for the Carer's Support Grant Application Form (CSG1).
The benefit is usually paid from the fourth day of disablement, as long as no Injury Benefit (IB1) is claimed.
If the claim is not made in a timely manner, some benefits may be lost.
How to Apply:
If you are unable to work after the accident or disease you should first claim Injury Benefit (IB1). Before Injury Benefit payments finish, you should claim Disablement Benefit if you are still unable to work due to accident or disease.
If you do not claim within 3 months of the expiry of your Injury Benefit claim, you may lose some benefit.
If you have suffered some loss of ability as a result of the accident or the onset of disease, but you are still able to work, you can still claim Disablement Benefit. You should do this within 3 months of the date of the accident or the onset of the disease.
Return your completed application form and supporting documents to:
Disablement Benefit Section
