Attendance Allowance FAQs
What is Attendance Allowance?
A tax-free benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision due to illness or disability. It is NOT means-tested · savings, income and owning your home are all irrelevant. Lower rate £73.90/week for day OR night needs; higher rate £110.40 for both, or under the terminal illness special rules. (Latest published rates · check GOV.UK.)
What counts as needing care?
Help or supervision with personal tasks: washing, dressing, eating, medication, toileting, moving safely around the home, or someone keeping an eye on you to prevent danger (falls, confusion, seizures). Crucially, you only need to need the help · you do not have to actually receive it, and nobody checks how you spend the money.
How much is it worth?
About £3,843/year at the lower rate, £5,741 at the higher · tax-free. It is also a gateway benefit: your carer may qualify for Carer's Allowance (~£4,330/year), and it adds disability additions to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. A successful claim frequently unlocks £8,000-£10,000 of total annual household support.
Why do so few people claim?
Roughly a million eligible pensioners never claim · usually assuming savings disqualify them (they do not) or writing off their needs as "just getting older". The AA1 form is long, but Age UK and Citizens Advice complete it with you for free, and well-evidenced claims have high success rates. Describe your worst days, not your best.
Is there a fast track for terminal illness?
Yes · under the special rules (clinician completes form SR1), claims are decided in days, automatically at the higher rate, with no 6-month qualifying period. The patient does not need to be told the special rules were used.
For informational purposes only · Not benefits advice · Latest published rates: lower £73.90, higher £110.40 per week (check GOV.UK) · This is an indicative screener; the DWP decides claims on the AA1 form evidence · Free help: Age UK, Citizens Advice