Use your NDIS plan for a Cuddle Pal
Depending on your plan, a Cuddle Pal may be fundable under one of these categories.
- Core Supports: Consumables
- Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living
- Assistive Technology: Low Cost AT
Every plan is different, and weighted items need an occupational therapist's recommendation. Always confirm with your plan manager or support coordinator before relying on this funding.
Claiming a Cuddle Pal through your NDIS plan
The process depends on how your plan is managed. Choose your pathway below.
Get an OT recommendation
Weighted items are higher-risk assistive technology, so your OT needs to confirm in writing that 1.8kg is appropriate and how it meets a disability-related need.
Order, and keep the invoice
Every order gets an itemised tax invoice describing the product properly, with our ABN. Ask us and we'll add a participant name, plan number or PO reference.
Submit your claim
Log into the myNDIS app, submit the invoice, and allocate it to the relevant budget category. File the OT recommendation with it: self-managed means you carry the risk if a claim is reviewed later.
Get an OT recommendation
Same starting point. Your OT confirms a weighted sensory item fits the goals already in the plan, and sends it to your plan manager before purchase.
Ask us for a quote
Email us and we'll send a formal quote using the same wording as the invoice, so your plan manager can assess it before you commit.
They approve, we invoice
If it's approved we invoice your plan manager directly. If it isn't, you can still buy it yourself and the 30-day money-back guarantee applies either way.
What your invoice says
Not "plush toy". Every Cuddle Pal invoices as:
Weighted sensory companion, 1.8kg, limb-distributed weight, 46cm, hypoallergenic polyester with sealed glass-bead fill
With our ABN, date, price and GST. Need a spec sheet for your OT, or a detail that isn't on it? Email us and we'll answer in writing so you can forward it.
Before you claim
What makes a Cuddle Pal claimable?
An OT recommendation tying the weight to a specific disability-related need, and your planner or plan manager agreeing it sits in your plan. Without the recommendation it's unlikely to go through.
Since 3 October 2024, sensory items are treated as everyday expenses by default. Items that are adaptive for a specific need are still considered on their merits, which is what the OT recommendation establishes.
See the NDIS's own guidance on what supports the NDIS funds.
Do you provide a tax invoice for NDIS claims?
Yes, with every order, for self-managed, plan-managed and agency-managed participants. It carries our ABN, GST and a proper description of the product. We'll reissue it with a participant name, plan number or PO reference on request.
Are you an NDIS registered provider?
No. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can buy from any retailer, registered or not, so it doesn't block you. If you're agency-managed, check with your planner first.
What if my claim is rejected?
You've paid for it yourself and you own a 1.8kg Cuddle Pal with a 12-month warranty. If it's not right, you have 30 days to send it back for a refund. That doesn't change based on how a claim goes.
If you're knocked back, tell us why. We'll use it to keep this page accurate for the next family.
Can you word the invoice differently so it goes through?
We'll describe the product accurately and add a participant name or plan reference. We won't write something misleading to get a claim past someone, because that puts you at risk in a plan review.
Do OTs use these?
Some do. One paediatric OT wrote to us unprompted: "Cuddle Pals have been such a lovely addition to our paediatric OT clinic. With their soft fur and evenly distributed weight, many of our clients from ages 2 to 8 have enjoyed cuddling these cute pets. We effectively use them as a regulatory tool when children are upset and as extra sensory input during play activities." Emily Newbold, Occupational Therapist.
That's her own practice. It doesn't mean your OT will reach the same conclusion.
The Cuddle Club is not an NDIS registered provider and does not provide financial, legal or NDIS advice.