How to apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over
Apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over for yourself
Apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over on behalf of another person
How to apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over for yourself
- Apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over online. Please note that our e-service is only available in Finnish and Swedish.
- Applications for the continued payment of the allowance and for an increased allowance can be made on the same form. Applications for continued payment of the disability allowance should be filed within six months of the end of the previous payment period.
- Scan or take a photo of the attachments and send them online. Enclose with your application:
- Up-to-date medical statement C (no older than six months). Other medical documentation, such as a doctor’s statement B or a copy of the medical record is also acceptable as an attachment, if it includes the details needed when processing the application. The required information includes details about the client’s illnesses, current functional capacity, and health status.
Visit the OmaKela-service to see if your application has been decided and the amount of the benefit. You can also see any possible reminders concerning, for instance, documents missing from your application. A written decision on your application will be sent to you by post.
Alternatively you can complete and print out the form Care allowance for pensioners / Disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over (EV 256e, PDF). Send your application by post along with the supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
How to apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over on behalf of another person
- Complete the form Care allowance for pensioners / Disability allowance for persons aged 16 years or over (EV 256e, PDF).
- Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the application directly in the browser, otherwise some of the information may not be saved.
- Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in.
- Save the completed form to your device. Note that the form must be in PDF format.
- Applications for the continued payment of the allowance and for an increased allowance can be made on the same form. Applications for continued payment of the disability allowance should be filed within six months of the end of the previous payment period.
- Enclose with your application:
- Up-to-date medical statement C (no older than six months). Other medical documentation, such as a doctor’s statement B or a copy of the medical record is also acceptable as an attachment, if it includes the details needed when processing the application. The required information includes details about the client’s illnesses, current functional capacity, and health status.
- Log in to OmaKela (available in Finnish and Swedish). Go to Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person). Please note: You need a Suomi.fi authorisation to act on someone’s behalf.
- Select Tee hakemus (File an application). Select Vammaistuet and Hae 16 vuotta täyttäneen vammaistukea.
- Select the application form on your device and press Lähetä (Send).
- When you send your application online, you do not need to sign it.
- If you have supporting documents, sent them via OmaKela after you have submitted your application. If they are paper documents, you can photograph or scan them.
Visit the OmaKela-service to see if your application has been decided and the amount of the benefit. You can also see any possible reminders concerning, for instance, documents missing from your application. A written decision on your application will be sent to you by post. If you have expenses which are caused by an illness and which you declared in the application, we may ask you further information if the expenses could be relevant to the amount of your allowance.
Do you act on behalf of another adult?
Acting on someone’s behalf always requires that an adult has authorised another adult to manage their affairs. In the OmaKela e-service, customers must grant a so-called Suomi.fi mandate to the person they wish to authorise. The mandate is called Sosiaaliturvan etuusasioiden hoitaminen (Handling of matters related to social security benefits). Visit Suomi.fi to grant a mandate.
It is possible to manage another person’s affairs by phone, by mail or by visiting a customer service point with a power of attorney. Learn more about how to issue a power of attorney.
When to apply
Kela grants the benefit for a maximum of six months retrospectively. Retroactive payment is always considered from case to case.
An estate can not apply for the benefit.
Information for applying
You do not need to declare exact costs in the application, and there is no requirement to submit any supporting documents concerning the costs either. It is sufficient for the customer to describe what types of costs they have in the application. Kela will ask for further details if it appears possible that the costs could be relevant to the amount of the allowance.
The same form can be used to apply for disability allowance for persons aged 16 years and for care allowance for pensioners. Kela determines which allowance the applicant is entitled to when reviewing the application.
It is worthwhile to file an application for continued payment and related supporting documents with Kela well in advance of the end of the payment period so that payment of the benefit is not interrupted. Applications for continued payment of the disability allowance should be filed within six months of the end of the previous payment period, however.
A new medical statement is usually needed for an application for increased benefit. However, a new statement is not needed if increased benefit is applied for on account of special expenses. In the Additional information section of the application, indicate that you are applying for an increased allowance because of the expenses.