The Directorate General is a part of the Belgian Federal Public Service Social Security
The aim of allowances for disabled persons is to grant an income to or to increase the income of disabled persons who,
- due to their handicap, are not or no longer able to provide themselves with a sufficient income or
- due to the reduction of their autonomy, have extra expenses for their integration in society
The application is always filed by the disabled person (or his proxy) in the municipality where the disabled person has his main residence. Since 2006, all applications are made electronically.
When the disabled person (or his proxy) visits the municipal administration concerned, the employee electronically introduces the application directly in the database of the Directorate General Disabled Persons via a secured internet access. The disabled person then has to send all the completed forms back to or hand them in with the Directorate-general Disabled Persons in order to guarantee the follow-up of the application.
For the non-elderly (21 – 64 years old), there are two allowances:
- The income replacement allowance: For entitlement to an income replacement allowance, it is examined to what extent the disabled person, due to his handicap, is not able to earn more than one third of what a healthy person can earn by having an occupation on the general labour market
- For the integration benefit, the reduction of autonomy is taken into account. To this end, a medical-social scale is being used to evaluate the person’s abilities to:
- self-mobility;
- eat and prepare food by oneself;
- take care of one’s personal hygiene and to dress;
- do maintenance of one’s house and keep the household;
- live without supervision, to be aware of danger and to avoid it;
- communication and social contact.
For the elderly (65 year and older), there is also a third allowance, which is the allowance for assistance to the elderly. For the allowance for assistance to the elderly, the reduction of autonomy is taken into account. To this end, a medical-social scale is being used to evaluate the person’s abilities to:
- self-mobility;
- eat and prepare food by oneself;
- take care of one’s personal hygiene and to dress;
- do maintenance of one’s house and keep the household;
- live without supervision, to be aware of danger and to avoid it;
- communication and social contact.
Not every disabled person necessarily obtains such an allowance. Some requirements are to be met, either of administrative kind or of medical kind.
These are the general administrative requirements:
- Your principal place of residence must be in Belgium and you must live in Belgium at the moment;
- You must be registered in the population register, you must have the Belgian nationality or you must be a person treated as a Belgian citizen;
- A means test will be carried out. The income of both the applicant and the person he forms a household with, has an influence on the allowance. A part of the income of the household can be exonerated in function of:
- the sort of allowance,
- the sort of income,
- the person with the income: it can be that the person with a disability has an income and/or his spouse,
- the familial situation of the person with a disability.
It is possible that you do not receive the full allowance, but only a part as a completion of your other incomes.
A doctor appointed by the Directorate-general Disabled Persons evaluates the person’s handicap: in order to qualify for entitlement, every applicant must have a "minimum handicap".
Every criterion is worth a mark. The total of these marks determines the category you belong to and the allowance you receive. If you obtain less than seven points, you are not entitled to an allowance. The income replacement allowance and the integration allowance can be granted together or separately. The Federal Public Service Social Security pays them every month.
The Directorate General Disabled Persons
Centre administratif Botanique
Finance Tower
Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, 50 boîte 150
1000 Bruxelles
Contact centre:
0800 987 99 (free)
If you phone from outside Belgium, you can use the number +32 2 507 87 99 (French or Dutch)
Fax: +32 2 509 81 85
E-mail :
- handiF@minsoc.fed.be (French),
- handiN@minsoc.fed.be (Dutch),
- handiD@minsoc.fed.be (German).
Website : http://www.handicap.fgov.be
The site handicap.fgov.be is mainly available in French, Dutch and German.
The other services competent for the disabled person’s in Belgium are:
