Attendance Allowance: who qualifies, how much it pays and how to claim

What is Attendance Allowance?

Attendance Allowance is a benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care, or someone to keep them safe, because of a disability or health condition. GOV.UK's guide to what you get says it is not means-tested, so earnings and savings make no difference, and GOV.UK lists it as free of Income Tax. You do not need a carer to claim, because Age UK's Attendance Allowance factsheet (May 2026) explains that entitlement rests on the help you could reasonably do with rather than the help you actually receive.

The money is yours to spend as you choose and is paid on top of your State Pension. It is not the same as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is for people under State Pension age, although Age UK notes that anyone already getting PIP when they reach that age can usually keep it instead.

Who qualifies for Attendance Allowance?

You qualify if you have reached State Pension age and have a physical disability (including a sensory one such as blindness), a mental disability or a health condition severe enough that you need help caring for yourself, or someone to supervise you for your own or other people's safety. GOV.UK adds that you must usually have needed that help for at least 6 months, have been in Great Britain for at least 2 of the last 3 years and not already get PIP, Disability Living Allowance or a similar benefit.

Personal care means help with bodily functions such as washing, dressing, eating, using the toilet and taking medication, whilst Age UK points out that housework and shopping generally do not count on their own. Supervision is about safety, so a risk of falls, seizures or confusion can qualify even when you can physically manage most tasks, which is why the benefit can be relevant to dementia. Age UK's example is a woman with dementia whose relative keeps watch over her by day, because of risks such as wandering off or leaving the gas unlit, and who gets the lower rate because she needs no supervision at night.

Age UK explains that you can apply before the 6 months are up, with payment starting once they have passed.

How much is Attendance Allowance in 2026/27 and how is the rate decided?

For 2026/27 the lower rate is £76.70 a week and the higher rate is £114.60, the figures on GOV.UK and in the DWP's Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027. The lower rate is for frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or for supervision at night, whilst the higher rate is for help or supervision throughout both day and night, or for someone a medical professional has said is nearing the end of life.

Age UK explains that the night-time condition can be met by one spell of help lasting at least 20 minutes or by two or more shorter spells, whilst Citizens Advice describes the daytime test as needing help with personal tasks at least 3 times during the day.

As an illustration, someone with arthritis who needs help to wash, dress and get to the toilet during the day but sleeps through the night would usually point to the lower rate, whereas needing help to the toilet twice each night as well would meet both conditions and could bring the higher rate, which is £37.90 a week (about £1,970 a year) more. Age UK warns that a review does not guarantee you keep your current award, so advice first is sensible.

How do you claim Attendance Allowance?

You can apply online or by post on the Attendance Allowance claim form (AA1), which you can print or ask the Attendance Allowance helpline to send on 0800 731 0122 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). You will need your National Insurance number, your GP's details, details of your condition and the address of any hospital, hospice or care home you are staying in.

The route you choose fixes the start date. GOV.UK's how to claim page says an online claim starts on the day you make it, a printed form when the DWP receives it, and a form requested from the helpline from the date of your call if you return it within 6 weeks. Age UK confirms that Attendance Allowance cannot be backdated, so any delay in claiming costs money. You should then get a text or letter within 3 weeks explaining when to expect a decision, and an assessment is only needed if it is unclear how your condition affects you.

Claiming or managing it for someone else

Dealing with the DWP for someone who cannot manage their own affairs needs written authority, which GOV.UK says can be a lasting or enduring power of attorney, a deputyship or a DWP appointeeship. As GOV.UK's guide to becoming an appointee explains, an appointee is approved by the DWP after a visit and interview and deals with benefits only, whereas a property and financial affairs LPA also covers bank accounts, bills and property, as our guide to setting up a lasting power of attorney explains.

If the claim is refused, or you get the lower rate when you expected the higher, you can ask for mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the date on the decision letter, and then appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.

What should you write on the AA1 form?

The form works best when it describes an ordinary week in specific detail, because the decision is made from what you write. Citizens Advice's help with the Attendance Allowance form points out that the decision maker will not be a medical expert, and suggests keeping a diary of the help you need for at least a week beforehand, writing in the blank boxes rather than only ticking, and saying if a task is painful, slow, leaves you breathless or puts you at risk. Age UK adds that you should describe help you need even if nobody gives it, and explain any problems you have with aids or adaptations and the help you still need.

The DWP's own notes accept that people have good and bad days and ask you to describe how your condition varies. The form also has a section for a statement from someone who knows you, ideally, Citizens Advice suggests, a health professional you have seen recently. You do not have to send medical evidence, although Age UK says a GP patient summary or specialist letters can go in, and a copy of what you send helps with any review or appeal.

How do the special rules for end of life work?

If a medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live, you can claim under the special rules, which GOV.UK's end of life page says means the higher rate of £114.60 a week with no face-to-face assessment, and the DWP's notes add that there is no 6-month wait. The claim is supported by form SR1, which a GP, consultant, hospice doctor, specialty doctor or senior specialist nurse completes, and the DWP says you will not have to pay for it.

Someone else can claim for you without your permission, and the DWP's notes say its letter to you will not mention the special rules. The DWP's guidance for clinicians says there are no negative consequences if someone lives longer than expected, and GOV.UK asks anyone who already gets Attendance Allowance to contact the helpline straight away.

What other help does Attendance Allowance unlock?

Age UK explains that Attendance Allowance is ignored as income for means-tested benefits but can open the door to extra amounts within them. GOV.UK's Pension Credit page lists an extra £86.05 a week for severe disability for people who get it, and Age UK sets out the conditions: you usually need to live alone, although some people such as anyone under 18 can be ignored, and nobody can be paid Carer's Allowance or the Universal Credit carer element for looking after you.

As an illustration using 2026/27 figures, a single pensioner who reached State Pension age after April 2016 (so Savings Credit does not apply), with an income of £250 a week, no housing costs and savings under £10,000, gets no Pension Credit, because the standard minimum guarantee is £238. If they are awarded Attendance Allowance and meet the severe disability conditions, their guarantee rises to £324.05, so they could receive £74.05 a week of Pension Credit on top, which can lead on to Council Tax Reduction and help with NHS costs. Age UK suggests claiming Pension Credit whilst the Attendance Allowance decision is pending, because the extra may then be backdated to when the Attendance Allowance started.

In England, Age UK's Council Tax factsheet (May 2026) explains that someone with a severe mental impairment certified by a doctor, such as from Alzheimer's disease, who gets a qualifying benefit such as Attendance Allowance is ignored for Council Tax, which can bring a discount, or an exemption if they live alone. An award also allows someone who cares for you for at least 35 hours a week to claim Carer's Allowance, although that can cost you the severe disability addition, a trade-off that our guide to Carer's Allowance works through.

What happens to Attendance Allowance in hospital or a care home?

Payment is suspended after 28 days in an NHS hospital, and Age UK explains that stays 28 days or less apart are added together. It also stops 28 days into a care home stay if the council pays towards the fees or the NHS funds the place, but GOV.UK confirms that you can keep it if you pay all the care home costs yourself.

Age UK adds that it stays payable whilst a council covers fees temporarily under a deferred payment agreement, whereas someone fully funded through NHS continuing healthcare normally loses it after 28 days. Our guides to care needs assessments and how a care home is paid for and to NHS continuing healthcare explain who pays in each case. GOV.UK says the DWP must be told as soon as possible about any hospital or care home stay of one night or more, which someone else can report for you.

What is different in Scotland and Northern Ireland?

In Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment from Social Security Scotland, which opened to new claims across the country on 22 April 2025 after pilots in five council areas that began on 21 October 2024. It is paid at the same two rates, and Social Security Scotland says anyone with a terminal illness gets the higher rate automatically, whatever their life expectancy. Existing awards were moved across automatically, and the Scottish Government says more than 99% had transferred by the end of 2025. If you move from England or Wales to Scotland, GOV.UK says your Attendance Allowance stops 13 weeks after the move, so claim the Scottish benefit promptly.

In Northern Ireland, Attendance Allowance is paid at the same rates but claimed through nidirect from the Department for Communities' Disability and Carers Service, online or by post.

What to do next

1. Check that you have reached State Pension age and have needed help for 6 months, or soon will, or ask a doctor or specialist nurse about an SR1 form.

2. Ring the helpline for a form, which fixes your claim date from the call if you return it within 6 weeks, and keep a week's diary of day and night needs whilst you fill it in.

3. Ask someone who knows you, ideally a health professional, to complete the statement section, and keep copies.

4. Once you have an award, tell the council and the Pension Service, and check Pension Credit, Council Tax Reduction and whether a carer could claim.

5. Report hospital and care home stays, and ask for mandatory reconsideration within one month if you think the decision is wrong.

6. Consider making an LPA whilst you have capacity, so someone can deal with the DWP and your bank if you cannot.

It also helps to keep a short note of the benefits you receive and the accounts they are paid into, because after a death your family has to tell the DWP and every bank, utility and insurer, and our guide to what happens to Attendance Allowance after a death explains how the final payment is handled. If that work does fall to your family, Legacy Trail's free notification service can contact the private-sector companies for them.