Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

ESA provides financial aid and support if a health condition influences your work capacity. It also offers National Insurance credits that contribute to your state pension and other future benefits.

There are different types of ESA based on your support needs and age. This can amount to up to £92.05 or up to £140.55 per week.

To be eligible, you should have previously been employed or self-employed and paid sufficient National Insurance contributions or accumulated enough credits over the past two to three years. You might be able to claim other benefits like Universal Credit together with ESA, although this could influence the amount you receive.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

PIP is a form of financial support intended to help with the costs related to having a disability. It consists of two components, with different rates for each, depending on how the disability affects daily living tasks, mobility, or both.

The condition must be long-term, such as arthritis, having affected you for at least the past three months and expected to continue impacting you for the next nine months. PIP isn’t influenced by your work hours, savings or other benefits received, but you must be below the state pension age to make your initial claim.

It offers £73.90 per week at the lower rate for the daily living component and £110.40 per week at the higher rate. For the mobility part, it provides £29.20 at the lower rate and £77.05 per week at the enhanced rate.

Attendance Allowance

If you’re over the state pension age, you might be eligible for Attendance Allowance instead of PIP. Despite its name, it doesn’t require you to have or want a carer, only that your disability is severe enough that you would need this type of support.

The funds can then be used to acquire services or equipment that can help you maintain your independence or if you do have a carer, it can entitle them to Carer’s Allowance. Attendance Allowance isn’t affected by how much you earn or how much you have in savings.

Unlike PIP, it doesn’t have two separate components but it does have two different rates depending on the severity of your condition. It provides £73.90 per week on the lower rate if you only need help during the day or night and £110.40 if you need help during both the day and night.

Universal Credit

Universal Credit can assist if your arthritis is affecting your work. It’s designed to support people who are on a low income, out of work or unable to work.

It has a variety of rates and additional sums that can be added onto your payments depending on your circumstances. You must be under state pension age and have £16,000 or less in savings.

Carer’s Allowance

If someone assists in your care, they might be eligible for Carer’s Allowance if they dedicate at least 35 hours per week to caring duties and earn less than £196 per week after tax from other employment. However, you must be claiming certain benefits to make them eligible.

This includes:

• Personal Independence Payment – daily living component
• Disability Living Allowance – the middle or highest care rate
• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Child Disability Payment – the middle or highest care rate
• Adult Disability Payment – daily living component

Disabled Students’ Allowance

This benefit offers support to cover study-related costs for students who have a mental health problem, long-term illness or other disabilities. It doesn’t need to be repaid and isn’t affected by your household income.

The amount you can receive will depend on your individual circumstances and needs. In the 2025/2026 academic year, undergraduate and postgraduate students can receive up to £27,783 per year to help pay for specialist equipment, non-medical assistance like sign language interpreters or extra travel costs caused by their disability.

Disability Living Allowance for Children

Arthritis can affect people at any age, despite often being considered an older person’s disability. Disability Living Allowance can provide support for children who have walking difficulties or require more supervision.

Similar to PIP, DLA provides two different components; care component and mobility component. For the mobility component, the weekly rates are the same as PIP at £29.20 on the lower rate and £77.05 on the higher rate.

For the care component, there are three rates depending on when the child requires extra help or care during the day or night and how much support they need. The lowest rate is at £29.20 per week, the middle at £73.90 and the highest at £110.40.

Transport perks

If you’re successful in claiming certain benefits, such as the mobility component of PIP, you could also be eligible for additional perks, particularly in relation to transport. This could mean qualifying for a Blue Badge, vehicle tax discount, access to the Motability Scheme to lease a vehicle, or a Disabled Person’s Railcard. Each of these comes with its own specific eligibility requirements and application procedure.