What can you claim?
Seven questions, about a minute. Nothing is stored and we do not ask who you are.
Attendance Allowance pays up to £114.6 a week, it is not means tested, and a very large number of people who qualify have never claimed it.
Question 1 of 6
Has the person needing help reached State Pension age?
This decides which benefit applies. Both pay the same for daily living.
The four things that stop people claiming
All four are wrong.
- “We have too much money to qualify”
- None of these benefits are means tested. Savings, pensions, income and property make no difference at all.
- “Nobody is helping her yet, so she would not qualify”
- The test is whether help is needed, not whether anyone is currently giving it. Someone struggling alone qualifies on the same terms as someone with carers four times a day.
- “It has to be physical help”
- Needing prompting, reminding or someone keeping an eye on you for your own safety all count. That matters a great deal for dementia.
- “I manage on a good day, so I should say I manage”
- The form asks what you need, not what you can just about do. Describe your worst days, and say how long things take.
Where to get help claiming
The forms are long, and that is the reason most people give up on them. Age UK and Citizens Advice will both sit down and fill one in with you, for nothing, and they do it constantly. That is probably the single most useful sentence on this page.