Attendance Allowance ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Most people continue to enjoy good health well into old age. But some older people need help with daily living. You may need help with things such as dressing, washing, having a bath or moving around indoors. All of these things can lead to extra expense. But you can get money from the Department for Work and Pensions to help with these costs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents Section 1. What is Attendance Allowance? Section 2. Who can claim Attendance Allowance? Section 3. How to claim Attendance Allowance Section 4. What to do if you are refused Attendance Allowance Section 5. Attendance Allowance and means-tested benefits Section 6. Attendance Allowance and carers’ benefits Section 7. Attendance Allowance in a care home Section 8. Attendance Allowance in hospital Section 9. Useful contacts ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following information gives details about Attendance Allowance (AA), which is payable only to people aged 65 or over. If you are under 65 now, you should claim Disability Living Allowance rather than Attendance Allowance. It is better to claim Disability Living Allowance if you can because you can get help with your mobility needs, there are extra rates of payment and the qualifying period for the benefit is shorter. See our free advice leaflet, Claiming Disability Benefits, for details of Disability Living Allowance and other benefits for sick or disabled people and their carers. The rules about disability benefits are complicated. If you are in any doubt, telephone our free advice service SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (textphone 0800 26 96 26) for further advice. If you are in Northern Ireland call SeniorLine on 0808 808 7575. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 1. What is Attendance Allowance? Attendance Allowance (AA) is the main disability benefit for people aged 65 and over. * You can claim Attendance Allowance if you are aged 65 or over. There is no upper age limit for claiming. (If you have been receiving a component of Disability Living Allowance since before your 65th birthday, and you now need extra help, see the section 'Continuing to claim Disability Living Allowance after 65' below.) * You’re not automatically entitled to AA because you have a particular illness or disability. Whether or not you get Attendance Allowance depends on how much help and the type of help you need. * You can claim Attendance Allowance if you need help with your personal care (things such as dressing and bathing) or need someone to supervise or watch over you. You do not have to be getting help from anyone already – what is important is that you need help. * You can get Attendance Allowance even if you are living on your own. It is up to you whether you use it to pay for somebody to care for you; you can use the extra money to pay for whatever you would find most useful. * Attendance Allowance is not affected by who you live with. If you are part of a couple it does not matter if your partner also claims Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance. * You won’t normally get Attendance Allowance if you only need help with domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. The help you need must be to do with personal care, such as bathing and dressing. Or you must need someone to watch over or supervise you to stop you from hurting yourself or others. * You will get Attendance Allowance either indefinitely, or for a fixed period. Towards the end of the fixed period you will be sent a form to renew your claim for AA; if you do not fill in this form your benefit will stop at the end of the fixed period. * Attendance Allowance is tax-free and you do not need to have paid National Insurance contributions to get it. * Attendance Allowance is paid directly to you and not to the person who looks after you (if there is anyone). If you want, you can arrange for your carer to cash it for you. A carer can also claim AA on behalf of the person they are caring for. * Attendance Allowance will be paid in the same way as any other benefits or State Retirement Pension that you receive. * Attendance Allowance is not means-tested, so it doesn’t matter how much money you have coming in each week. Getting Attendance Allowance will not mean that you get less Pension Credit, Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit (or rate rebate in Northern Ireland). In fact, it may mean that you get a higher level of these other benefits or that you become entitled to claim for the first time. Tell your local benefits office if you’re already getting any of these benefits and you start to receive Attendance Allowance. You may find that your other benefits go up. If you’re not already on one of these benefits contact SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland) and they will advise you if it’s worth putting in a claim. Continuing to claim Disability Living Allowance after you are 65 If you already receive the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance you don’t need to put in a separate claim for Attendance Allowance if you have since developed care needs. Instead you should ask the Department for Work and Pensions for a supersession of your Disability Living Allowance claim. Once you are 65 you can only be considered for the middle or highest rate of Disability Living Allowance care component. The qualifying rules and the amounts for the middle and highest rates are the same as for the lower and higher rates of Attendance Allowance (see below). If your care needs lessen after your 65th birthday, you cannot drop to the lowest rate – you will lose the care component altogether. However, you can regain the lowest rate if you were previously claiming it, as long as you re-claim it within 12 months of your previous award ending. You must still satisfy the six–month qualifying period. When you ask for a supersession you should ask the Department for Work and Pensions not to look at your mobility component. However, there is always a small chance that it might decide that you are no longer entitled to the mobility component. So, it is always worth getting some help from an advice agency such as your local Citizens Advice Bureau before asking for a supersession. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 2. Who can claim Attendance Allowance? In order to qualify for Attendance Allowance, you must need help with your personal care or need someone to supervise or watch over you. There are two rates of Attendance Allowance: 1. Higher rate – £67.00 per week To qualify for the higher rate, you need to fulfil certain conditions for help during the day and during the night. These conditions are explained later. 2. Lower rate – £44.85 per week To qualify for the lower rate, you need to fulfil the conditions for help either during the day or during the night. These conditions are explained later. Help during the day The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that to qualify for Attendance Allowance by day you must: * need frequent attention throughout the day in connection with your bodily functions; or * need continual supervision throughout the day to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others. When you send off your claim form, a DWP decision-maker will look at it and decide whether you meet either of these conditions. You must fully meet one of them to get your benefit – it is not enough to partly fulfil both. The words used by the DWP in these conditions mean quite specific things to the decision-maker. These meanings are given below. For the first condition: * Frequent usually means several times a day – not just once or twice: for example, you may need help to go to the toilet several times in the day or need supervision to prepare your main meals, or you may need someone to remind you that you need to take your medication. * Attention is usually hands-on help. But it can also mean encouraging or prompting from someone who is actually there to guide you: for example, if you have dementia, you might need prompting to dress or take your medication, even though you’re physically capable of carrying out these tasks. You should mention this on your claim form. * Bodily functions are things such as eating, drinking, hearing, seeing, using the toilet, getting up, washing and dressing or taking medication. It also means walking and other physical activities that allow you to carry out a reasonable level of social, recreational or leisure activity. But it does not usually include general household tasks such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. For the second condition: * Continual does not mean non-stop; it usually means regular or ongoing but with breaks. * Supervision is when someone oversees or watches over you. You must need this supervision to avoid the risk of ‘substantial danger’ to you or another person and you need to say what this danger might be: for example, you may have dementia and be at risk of leaving your cooker on and starting a fire. Even if you only occasionally find yourself in a dangerous situation, you may still need continual supervision: for example, if you have epilepsy you could be likely to have a seizure at any time, even though there are long periods when you are fine. You do not need to have ever caused danger to yourself or others, as long as there is a real risk of this happening and the danger is not too remote a possibility. In both cases: * Throughout the day means in the middle of the day as well as in the morning and evening. But you do not have to need attention or supervision all day or every day. It is the pattern of care needed over a period of time which is important. Help during the night The DWP says that to qualify for AA by night you must: * need prolonged or repeated attention in connection with your bodily functions; or * need another person to be awake for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals for the purpose of watching over you to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others. You must fully meet one of these conditions to get your benefit. Again the words here have specific meanings: * For the first condition, prolonged usually means periods of 20 minutes or more and repeated is usually twice or more. * For the second condition frequent intervals usually means at least three times. You do not have to need attention or supervision every night. It is the pattern of care needed over a period of time which is important. Remember, you don’t already have to be getting the help to qualify for AA. But it is important to show on your claim form that you need it. People who are terminally ill There are special rules for people who are terminally ill. Once a doctor has certified that the person could be reasonably expected to die within six months, Attendance Allowance can be claimed at once at the highest rate. Attendance Allowance will be awarded for a fixed term of three years. If you are already claiming Attendance Allowance at the lower rate, you do not need to fill in a separate claim form; you need to ask for your award to be superseded on the basis that you are now terminally ill. The claim can be made by a relative or friend without the terminally ill person knowing. The benefit will still be paid to the terminally ill person, but they don’t necessarily have to know what has been put on the form. As with all AA claims, the Department for Work and Pensions can review entitlement at any time. When filling in the form check the notes for people claiming under the ‘special rules’, as not all sections of the form have to be completed. People on renal dialysis Special rules apply if you are undergoing renal dialysis on a kidney machine. You can claim lower rate Attendance Allowance if: * you are having regular treatment, of two or more sessions a week; and * your dialysis is a type that requires the attendance or supervision of another person or you yourself require attendance or supervision while dialysing. If you dialyse in hospital and have no help from a hospital staff member these rules also apply. Other conditions for Attendance Allowance The other conditions you must meet in order to claim Attendance Allowance are: * You must have needed help for six months. However, there are special rules for people who are terminally ill (see above). * You must have passed the UK residence and presence tests (this means you normally live in the UK and you have lived here for 26 weeks in the last 12 months). * You must not be living in hospital. * If you live in a care home you must be paying your own fees and not getting help from the local council. * You can be living in sheltered housing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section 3. How to claim Attendance Allowance Attendance Allowance will only be awarded after you have satisfied the qualifying criteria for six months. This means that you must have needed the help for six months. If it hasn’t been six months yet, but you are likely to continue needing help for some time, put in a claim now so that you will be paid as soon as you are entitled. To claim Attendance Allowance you have to get a claim pack. You can do this by: * Calling the Disability Benefits Enquiry Line free on 0800 88 22 00 (textphone 0800 24 33 55). If you are in Northern Ireland call 0800 22 06 74. The claim pack will be date stamped. You should fill it in and return it within six weeks. If you are awarded AA, your benefit will be paid from the date on the form. If you don't return the completed form within six weeks, the start date of your benefit will be the day that the Department for Work and Pensions receives your completed form. * If you prefer, you can have the form filled in for you over the phone and then posted to you to check and sign. If you are going to do this, it is a good idea to get some advice beforehand. Make sure you have had time to think about your condition and how it affects you and prepare what you are going to say. You may find it useful to keep a diary for a few days before filling in the form. * Pick up leaflet AA A5DCS from local benefit offices, post offices and libraries. This leaflet includes a reply slip to send for a claim pack. You should complete and send off this reply slip as soon as possible, as the date that the Department for Work and Pensions receives the reply slip will normally be the start date for claiming AA – as long as you return the completed form within six weeks. * You can download a claim form from www.direct.gov.uk/disability Your doctor, social worker, occupational therapist or someone who knows about your health, may be asked to confirm your statements. It is useful to keep a copy of the form, in case you have a medical examination or if your claim is not successful and you ask for a revision. Things to think about before filling in the form: * You can increase your chances of getting Attendance Allowance if you get some help filling in your claim form. Ask for help from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or an advice centre. Call SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland) if you need the address or phone number of a local advice agency. * The Disability Alliance produces a self-help guide called Claiming Attendance Allowance. This guide takes you through the process of making a claim. It explains the qualifying conditions and looks at the claim form question by question giving help and suggestions. Ask your library if it has a copy, or to buy a copy, you need to send a cheque to: Publications, Disability Alliance, Universal House, 88–94 Wentworth Street, London E1 7SA Tel: 020 7247 8776. It costs £2.50. * The Attendance Allowance form is more simple than it used to be, but make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to fill it in. What you say on the form is very important. * You might find it useful to keep a diary for a couple of weeks, detailing all the instances throughout the day and night when you need attention or supervision. Make a note of the length of time it takes you to carry out particular tasks. Your carer may be able to help you with this, if you have one. Think about tasks that you manage to do but you struggle with: for example, it is quite reasonable to say that you need help with dressing if you manage to dress yourself in the mornings but it takes you an hour and you are exhausted at the end of it. * Try to think about your bad days as well as your good days, as these are the times when you need the help most. Thinking positively is good to keep you motivated but it doesn’t necessarily reflect your whole situation if you play down the help that you need. * Write down a list of the symptoms that you experience and how they affect your ability to carry out everyday activities. If there is an organisation linked to your particular condition they might be able to help with this. The Useful contacts section below lists some organisations which might be useful for you to contact before filling in the form. * Try to give as much detail as possible, however trivial you think it might be. The Department for Work and Pensions will only consider what you write on the form, so don’t assume that they will know that you need attention just because you have told them you have a particular disability. Not everybody with the same condition experiences the same symptoms and some may be caused by side-effects of medication or other treatment. * You may have stopped doing things that you used to enjoy because of your disability. If so, it is important to mention this on the claim form. Part 7 of the claim pack gives you a chance to describe how your illness affects your day-to-day living. You can use this section to tell the Department for Work and Pensions about the attention you might require with social activities, particularly those activities which you may have stopped doing because of your disability. This might include going to clubs and taking part in religious activities. * If you have sight problems or difficulties with hearing you can get advice from specialist organisations on how best to fill out the form. Action for Blind People produces a factsheet on Attendance Allowance and the RNIB produces a checklist to assist when filling out the form; it’s called Guide to claiming Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance for adults. Recent court cases have established that seeing and hearing are ‘bodily functions’. So getting help or attention with these will count when claiming Attendance Allowance. RNID produces a factsheet called Attendance Allowance for deaf and hard of hearing people. See contact details at the end for their addresses. Medical examination You may be asked to undergo a medical examination by a Department for Work and Pensions doctor. This is likely to be an appointment in your own home. If possible, have somebody with you such as a friend or relative. If you have any communication or language difficulties, tell the Department for Work and Pensions before the visit and it should make arrangements to allow you to participate fully in the examination. The list, on the previous page, of things to think about before filling in the form can also be helpful if you are having a visit from a Department for Work and Pensions doctor. It may be particularly useful to keep a list of things that you want the doctor to know. If you are asked to demonstrate how you manage a particular task don’t try to do more than you would usually manage, as this will not give a true picture of the help you require. Remember the doctor is not your own doctor and will not have an in-depth knowledge of your condition and how it affects you. The doctor will be relying on you to give them an insight into the help that you need as a result of your disability. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section 4. What to do if you are refused Attendance Allowance If your claim for Attendance Allowance is turned down, or if you get the lowest rate and you think you should have got the highest rate, you can ask for a revision of the decision. You have one month in which to ask for a revision. If you are still not satisfied, you have the right to a further appeal of the decision. You should get advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or advice centre, or call SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland). It is worth using the revision and appeal process – many people get their decision changed when they challenge it. If you are receiving Attendance Allowance at the lower rate and your circumstances change, you can ask the Department for Work and Pensions for a supersession of the original decision on your benefit. For example, if in the past you only required attention during the day but you now need help at night time as well, you should contact the Department for Work and Pensions. Tell them that you need extra help and they will send you a form to fill in. Remember, you do not have to put in a totally new claim, you can just ask them to re-consider your existing claim. If your supersession is successful, you will be paid the new rate after you have needed the extra help for six months. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 5. Attendance Allowance and means-tested benefits Attendance Allowance could entitle you to higher levels of Pension Credit, Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit (and rate rebate in Northern Ireland). If you start to get Attendance Allowance, remember to tell your local pension centre or benefits office (for Pension Credit) or the local council (for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit). If you didn’t qualify in the past for any of these benefits, check with an advice agency to see if you may now be entitled. It is important to seek advice about this as soon as you put in a claim for Attendance Allowance so that you can maximise the amount of benefit you receive. Help the Aged produces a free advice leaflet, Can You Claim It?, for people wondering whether they might be entitled to any means-tested benefits. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 6. Attendance Allowance and carers’ benefits If you receive Attendance Allowance, your carer may qualify for Carer’s Allowance. See our free advice leaflet, Claiming Disability Benefits, and information sheet no. 5, Welfare Benefits for Older Carers. Please see our contact details at the back page of this information sheet to request a copy of either of these. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 7. Attendance Allowance in a care home If you are ‘self-funding’, or in other words paying the full cost of your care yourself with no help from your local council, you can claim Attendance Allowance, even if you are receiving Pension Credit or other income-related benefits. However, if you are getting financial help from the local council you will not be able to claim Attendance Allowance. If you are already receiving Attendance Allowance when you enter the home you can continue to receive it for the first four weeks. If you are receiving financial help from the local council while you sell your property you should still be able to get Attendance Allowance. This is because you are still technically self-funding, as you will be expected to repay any local council funding you have received once the property has been sold. If you stay in a care home on a temporary basis, for example, for respite care, your Attendance Allowance will not be affected, unless you are there for more than four weeks. After four weeks, if you are not self-funding, it will be withdrawn until you leave the home. Stays that are less than 28 days apart will be added together and counted as one stay, so a number of short stays close together could affect the amount of Attendance Allowance you receive. This is known as the 28-day linking rule. In Scotland, your Attendance Allowance will stop four weeks after you move into a care home if you get money from the local council towards the costs of your personal care. You can get advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or advice centre or call SeniorLine on 0808 800 6565 (0808 808 7575 in Northern Ireland). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 8. Attendance Allowance in hospital After 28 days in hospital your Attendance Allowance will stop. The 28 days should not include the day you go in or the day you are discharged. If you go into hospital for short periods (with less than 28 days between stays) they will be added together and count as one stay. If you are going into hospital inform the DLA and AA helpline on 0845 7123 456. Let them know when you are discharged. It will start paying your benefit again when you come out (if it was stopped because your stay was over 28 days). You will not have to put in a new claim. If you are terminally ill and staying in a non-NHS hospice, it is likely you will be able to continue to receive your Attendance Allowance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 9. Useful Contacts Department for Work and Pensions Benefits Enquiry Line (disability benefits): 0800 88 22 00 (textphone: 0800 24 33 55). If you are in Northern Ireland call 0800 22 06 74. Call the Benefits Enquiry Line or look in the phone book under ‘S’ for your local benefits office. DIAL UK provides information and advice to disabled people. For contact details of your local DIAL look in your phone book or on the DIAL UK website (www.dialuk.info.org.uk) or contact: DIAL UK St Catherine's Tickhill Road Doncaster DN4 8QN Tel: 01302 310123 Textphone: 01302 310123 Web: www.dialuk.org.uk Disability Alliance Universal House, 88–94 Wentworth Street London E1 7SA Tel: 020 7247 8776 Web: www.disabilityalliance.org Disability Alliance produces guides on benefits for disabled people. The Disability Rights Handbook costs £21 (£14.50 to people on benefit) including postage. The Claiming Attendance Allowance guide costs £2.50. Specialist advice on filling in the claim form Action for Blind People 14–16 Verney Road London SE16 3DZ Helpline: 0800 915 4666 Web: www.actionforblindpeople.org Will give guidance to people who are sight impaired on how best to fill in their Attendance Allowance form. Alzheimer’s Society Devon House 58 St. Katherine’s Way London E1W 1JX Helpline: 0845 300 0336 Web: www.alzheimers.org.uk Will advise how to apply the rules to somebody with dementia. Arthritis Care 18 Stephenson Way London NW1 2HD Helpline: 0808 800 4050 Web: www.arthritiscare.org.uk Its publication, Claiming Attendance Allowance, gives advice on what to think about when filling out the Attendance Allowance claim form. British Lung Foundation 73–75 Goswell Road London EC1V 7ER Helpline: 08458 50 50 20 Web: www.lunguk.org If you have chest problems and breathing difficulties you may find it useful to get further information before filling in the claim form. Cancerbackup 3 Bath Place Rivington Street London EC2A 3JR Helpline: 0800 800 1234 Web: www.cancerbackup.org.uk Cancerbackup provides information on cancer, practical advice and support for patients with cancer, their families and carers. MENCAP 4 Swan Courtyard Coventry Road Birmingham B26 1BU Helpline: 0808 808 1111 Web: www.mencap.org.uk Can advise on how people with learning difficulties can qualify for Attendance Allowance. MIND 15–19 Broadway London E15 4BQ Helpline: 0845 766 0163 Web: www.mind.org.uk Can advise how people with mental health problems can satisfy the criteria for Attendance Allowance. Parkinson’s Disease Society 215 Vauxhall Bridge Road London SW1V 1EJ Helpline: 0808 800 0303 Web: www.parkinsons.org.uk Parkinson’s Disease Society can send people with Parkinson’s Disease general leaflets on how to claim Attendance Allowance. RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) 105 Judd Street London WC1H 9NE Helpline: 0845 766 9999 Web: www.rnib.org.uk RNIB has a welfare rights service giving advice on recent court cases affecting blind and partially sighted people. RNID 19–23 Featherstone Street London EC1Y 8SL Helpline: 0808 808 0123 Textphone: 0808 808 9000 Web: www.rnid.org.uk Can advise on how deaf and hard of hearing people can satisfy the rules on attention. For further information contact: Information Resources Team Help the Aged 207–221 Pentonville Road London N1 9UZ Tel: 020 7278 1114 If you have access to the internet you can download our information sheets and advice leaflets by logging on to www.helptheaged.org.uk SeniorLine is the free welfare rights advice and information service run by Help the Aged for older people and their carers. Trained advice workers offer free, confidential and impartial advice about: * welfare and disability benefits * care at home * residential care * housing options and adaptations * access to health and community services. Freephone: 0808 800 6565 Textphone: 0800 26 96 26 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday If you are in Northern Ireland, contact SeniorLine on 0808 808 7575.