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Additional cost allowance for children

If you have additional expenses related to your child’s disability, you may be eligible for additional cost allowance. Additional costs are costs that are incurred due to the child's disability and go beyond what is customary for children of the same age. Försäkringskassan determines what counts as additional costs.

Can I claim additional cost allowance?

You can receive additional cost allowance if

  • your child has a disability that can be presumed to persist for at least six months
  • you have additional costs amounting to at least SEK 13,125 per year due to the child’s disability
  • you are the child's parent, person who receives a child with a view to adoption, or have custody of the child
  • you and your child are insured in Sweden. If you live here, you are covered by insurance. However, there are some exceptions to this rule.

If you are two parents who apply for additional cost allowance for the same child, we will add up your total additional costs for the child or children to see if you are entitled to additional cost allowance.

 

The rules for childcare allowance as well as care allowance for children with special needs and additional cost allowance differ. In order to be entitled to additional cost allowance, you need to have higher additional costs than previously required to receive a tax-free additional cost part of the childcare allowance.

In order to receive additional cost allowance, accepted additional costs must be at least SEK 12,075 per year based on the 2022 price base amount. This can be compared with the fact that the additional costs would have needed to be at least SEK 8,568 per year in order for you to receive a tax-free additional cost part in your childcare allowance.

What counts as additional costs?

Additional costs are costs that you incur due to your child's disability, i.e. costs in addition to those that are customary for children of the same age without disabilities. Additional costs can be incurred on a one-time basis or recurring costs, such as consumables.

The Swedish Social Insurance Agency will determine what counts as additional costs due to the child’s disability.

An example: You can normally not receive compensation to buy your child a bicycle since this is a cost that one usually has. However, if you need to adjust the bicycle for your child to be able to ride the bicycle despite their disability, you may be entitled to additional cost compensation. In this case, you will be reimbursed for the cost of adjusting the bicycle – you will not be reimbursed for the cost of the bicycle without adaptation.

Additional costs are divided into seven categories according to the legislation. It is not possible to list everything that may qualify as additional costs, however here are some examples.

  1. Health, medical care and food. For example, costs for medicines and special diets.
  2. Wear and tear and cleaning. For example, wear and tear on clothes, increased washing and cleaning.
  3. Travel. For example, travel with own car if your child is unable to travel by public transportation.
  4. Assistive devices. For example, the purchase or rental and insurance of assistive devices.
  5. Assistance in daily life. For example, costs for services granted by the municipality.
  6. Housing. For example, in the case of a change of housing, the cost of an additional room or a larger living space needed for care equipment, assistive devices or a treatment room may be an additional cost if the cost is not otherwise met.
  7. Other purposes. This applies to additional costs due to a disability, which do not fit in the categories above.

You can only receive additional cost allowance for things that you pay for yourself

This means that you cannot receive allowance for things that the state, municipality or region pays for. This means, for example, that in case of patient transport with your child, you can only receive compensation up to the high-cost protection. Similarly, you cannot claim additional cost compensation for aids if there is an equivalent aid available to borrow for free from the municipality or region.

Therefore, you should contact the municipality or region before purchasing aids that the child needs due to their disability.

 

We assess whether the costs you have indicated in the application can be approved as additional costs. In order to receive additional cost allowance, the conditions described in the legislation must be met. This requires:

That the cost arises due to the disability

The cost must arise due to a disability, it cannot be a cost that you would have had even if the child did not have a disability. Based on the information in the medical documentation, we will assess whether there is a link between the disability and the cost.

The cost refers to what goes beyond what is normal for children of the same age who do not have a disability

In order to be regarded as an additional cost, the cost must go beyond the costs that one would normally have for children of the same age. We use information from, for example, the Swedish Consumer Agency to determine what can be considered normal costs even without a disability. After that we make an assessment of what costs go beyond that.

The cost is reasonable or fair

The cost must also be reasonable. Reasonable is an expression used in the legislation and is comparable to the cost being fair.

We assess the size of the costs based on your individual life situation. What is reasonable can vary on a case-by-case basis and we therefore investigate whether the additional costs are reasonable. We use information from various sources, such as regions, the Swedish Consumer Agency, the Swedish Energy Agency, FASS, occupational therapists, pharmacies and district nurses.

You pay for the cost yourself

The cost must be paid you. If the state, municipality or region pays it, it is not considered an additional cost.

If the state, municipality or region meets any part of your child's needs, it is called other community support in the legislation and is not approved as an additional cost. Therefore, we need to know what possible services or support the child has. For example, it may be that the municipality pays for a support that the child needs or that a need is met by us paying out another allowance for the child.

 

All parents have costs for their children, regardless of whether the child has a disability or not. We call such costs normal costs and you cannot receive additional cost allowance for them. If you have higher costs due to the child's disability, it is an additional cost and you may be entitled to additional cost allowance.

You need to calculate how high your additional costs are per year for your child. You can, for example, use information from the Swedish Consumer Agency to find out what costs you usually have even without a disability. Then you can estimate how high your additional costs are. If you do not know, write it in your application, so that you can get support from your administrative officer.

In this summaries of individual costs for children, you will find tables with the Swedish Consumer Agency's estimates of normal costs for clothes and shoes, personal hygiene, leisure time and mobile phone.

Calculations for 2023

Summary of individual costs for children, 2023 (in Swedish) Pdf, 1 MB, opens in new window.

Calculations for 2022

Summary of individual costs for children, 2022 (in Swedish) Pdf, 1 MB, opens in new window.

In this summaries of household expenses, you will find tables with the Swedish Consumer Agency's estimates of normal costs for washing and drying, household electricity and home appliances.

Calculations for 2023

Summary of household expenses, 2023 (in Swedish) Pdf, 2 MB, opens in new window.

Calculations for 2022

Summary of household expenses, 2022 (in Swedish) Pdf, 2 MB, opens in new window.

If you need assistive devices, there is information available in 1177 Vårdguiden.

1177 Vårdguiden (1177.se) (in Swedish) External link, opens in new window.

How much money will I receive?

You can receive between SEK 1,313 and 3,063 per month for a child depending on the amount of your additional costs. If your additional costs are less than SEK 13,125 per year, you cannot receive compensation.

These amounts are valid for 2023. You do not pay any tax on the allowance.

Additional costs per year and monthly allowance

  • Your additional costs are at least SEK 13,125 per year. You can receive SEK 1,313 per month.
  • Your additional costs are at least SEK 18,375 per year. You can receive SEK 1,750 per month.
  • Your additional costs are at least SEK 23,625 per year. You can receive SEK 2,188 per month.
  • Your additional costs are at least SEK 28,875 per year. You can receive SEK 2,625 per month.
  • Your additional costs are at least SEK 34,125 per year. You can receive the maximum amount of SEK 3,063 per month.

If you are two parents who apply for additional cost allowance for the same child, we will add up your total additional costs for the child or children to see if you are entitled to additional cost allowance.

Two parents can receive additional cost allowance

You and the child’s other parent can receive additional cost allowance for the same child. In this case you share the allowance. Försäkringskassan calculates the total additional costs for the child and you can choose how you want the allowance to be divided between you. If you do not make a choice, you will each receive half. If you are unable to agree, Försäkringskassan will split the allowance in quarters based on what additional costs each of you incurs.

How do I apply?

1. Apply on My pages (Mina sidor)

Apply for additional cost allowance on My Pages, where you can describe your additional costs. Read about how to calculate your additional costs under the heading Calculate your additional cost.

You use the same application to change how much of the allowance is paid to you and how much of it is paid to the other parent.

Write in the application if you would rather tell us about your additional costs verbally instead of submitting them when you apply.

 

It is possible to apply jointly in the e-service. Once one of you has logged in and filled in the details about you, the other parent and child and signed the application, it will be visible in the other parent's My pages. There they will review and sign the application themselves. It must be done within 14 days, otherwise the entire application will be deleted and you will need to fill out a new one.

2. Send in a medical statement

After completing your application, send in a medical statement describing your child’s disability. If you are applying via our e-service you can submit the medical certificate and other attachments digitally through My Pages as soon as we receive your application. You can see your case on My Pages within 24 hours of applying and you then click add attachments to your application.

If you are not applying via the e-service, send the medical certificate and other attachments to:

Försäkringskassans inläsningscentral
839 88 Östersund.

3. We will contact you

Once we have started processing your case, we will book an appointment with you where we will jointly review the additional costs.

You can prepare for the conversation by writing down what additional costs you have incurred due to your child's disability, the reason for the costs and how you have calculated them, if this is not already stated in your application.

If you indicated that you need an interpreter, the administrative officer will make sure one participates in the conversation.

4. You will receive a decision

We will assess what additional costs are reasonable and can be approved. If your additional costs are at least SEK 13,125 per year, you will receive a decision on a certain monthly amount. The decision may be for a limited time or as long as you are liable to pay maintenance for the child.

The time it takes to process your application depends on its complexity and if we need additional information from you. Normally, you can expect a decision within 3 to 5 months.

5. Disbursement

Additional cost allowance is paid out on the 18th or 19th of every month.

For special disbursement dates, see

Disbursement dates and processing times

6. Notify us if anything changes

Call your administrator if your additional costs relating to your child change. Report the change as soon as possible, but no later than 14 days after you became aware of it. Otherwise, you may be required to pay back the money.

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