Millions of older Brits may be eligible to claim £400 a month from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if they have one of these medical conditions or disabilities.
Attendance Allowance is a benefit given to those over the State Pension age who need help with day-to-day personal care or supervision due to their illness or disability.
Attendance Allowance is one of the DWP's most underclaimed benefits with around 3.4million people in the UK eligible to claim but not.
Here is everything you need to know about Attendance Allowance including how much it is, who can claim, and a full list of conditions and disabilities which could make you eligible to claim.
Who can claim Attendance Allowance?
You can claim Attendance Allowance once you reach the state pension age, which is currently 66.
You must also have been a resident of Great Britain (England, Scotland, or Wales) for the last two years and be habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands.
If all this applies to you, like said before you must also have an illness or disability which requires you to need support.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no set condition which makes you eligible for Attendance Allowance - this is because it is dependent on the care/support you need to manage day-to-day life.
This can be help with getting washed and dressed, help with medical treatment, going to the toilet, help with mealtimes, or help because you get confused.
So if you have Athiritus but you are able to safely look after yourself then you may not be able to claim, however, if you need someone to help you cook for yourself or support you with personal tasks because you experience pain then you may be eligible.
Although you do not need to have a full time carer to be eligible.
You actually don’t even need to have had a diagnosis for your condition to apply.
According to the DWP, as long as you've needed help or supervision or have had difficulties for six months because of your condition, then you can claim.
Conditions which could qualify you for Attendance Allowance can include things such as:
- Arthritis
- Spondylosis
- Back Pain – other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Disease of the muscles, bones or joints
- Trauma to limbs
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Heart disease
- Chest disease
- Asthma
- Cystic fibrosis
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Epilepsy
- Neurological diseases
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Motor neurone disease
- Chronic pain syndromes
- Diabetes mellitus
- Metabolic disease
- Traumatic paraplegia/tetraplegia
- Major trauma other than traumatic paraplegia/tetraplegia
- Learning difficulties
- Psychosis
- Psychoneurosis
- Personality disorder
- Dementia
- Behavioural disorder
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Hyperkinetic syndrome
- Renal disorders
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Bowel and stomach disease
- Blood disorders
- Haemophilia
- Multi-system disorders
- Multiple allergy syndrome
- Skin disease
- Malignant disease
- Severely mentally impaired
- Double amputee
- Deaf/blind
- Haemodialysis
- Frailty
- Total parenteral autrition
- AIDS
- Infectious diseases: Viral disease - coronavirus Covid-19
- Infectious diseases: Viral disease - precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease – tuberculosis
- Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease – precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease – malaria
- Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease – other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases - other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Cognitive disorder - other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Terminally ill
If you are terminally ill and not expected to live more than 12 months, then you will be able to claim - there is also a quicker application process for people who are terminally ill and you should receive a decision within two weeks.
It should be noted that you won't be able to get Attendance Allowance if you already receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Adult Disability Payment (ADP), or the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
However, it will not affect any other benefits which you are claiming.
How much do you get when you claim?
The benefit is paid at two different rates and the amount you get is dependent on the level of care you need because of your disability or condition.
This is calculated on how much help is needed and not any current help you already get.
The lower rate is given if you have frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night.
The higher rate is given if you have help or supervision throughout both day and night, or a medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live.
As of April 2023, the rates are:
- Standard rate: £68.10 a week
- Higher rate: £101.75 a week
The benefit is paid every four weeks so you would be getting £407 a month if you get the higher rate and £272.40 if you get the standard.
Attendance Allowance is not means-tested - so what you earn or how much you have in savings will not affect what you get.
If you get Attendance Allowance, you can spend the money however you like as the aim for the benefit is to help people stay independent in their own homes for longer.
How to make a claim for Attendance Allowance?
To claim, you will need to fill out an Attendance Allowance form and clearly outline the help you do need, as well as the help you don't.
You can get access to a form by either calling the helpline on 0800 731 0122 or downloading it from the Government website, here.
You will then need to send it off through the post.
If people need further support with their application, such as needing an alternative format of the claim form in braille, large print or audio CD, then they can call the Attendance Allowance helpline to request this.
If your claim is successful, then you can backdate it to the start date of your claim, which is usually the date the form is received or the date you call the enquiry line.
