Attendance Allowance: Who Qualifies and How to Claim

Attendance Allowance is paid to people who have reached State Pension age and have a physical disability, a mental disability or a health condition severe enough that they need help caring for themselves, or someone to supervise them for their own or someone else's safety.

• Not means-tested: what you earn or how much you have in savings will not affect what you get
• Not taxable: no income tax arises on Attendance Allowance
• You could get extra Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction if you get Attendance Allowance
• You do not have to have someone caring for you in order to claim
• It is not taken off other benefits and tax credits you may get
• If you get Constant Attendance Allowance at the same time, your Attendance Allowance is reduced by the amount of Constant Attendance Allowance you get

Scotland, Pension Age Disability Payment: in Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP), delivered by Social Security Scotland. If you live in Scotland you need to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment instead, and if you already get Attendance Allowance, Social Security Scotland will move you across without you having to do anything. The rates are the same (£76.70 lower, £114.60 higher). Northern Ireland: Attendance Allowance is administered separately, by the Department for Communities, see the section below.

Attendance Allowance is paid weekly at 2 different rates, and the one you get depends on the level of help you need (2026/27):

If your circumstances change, you could get a different rate. You must report a change of circumstances.

You can get Attendance Allowance if you have reached State Pension age and the following apply:

• ✓Yes: State Pension age or older. State Pension age is rising to 67 in stages, starting with people born on or after 6 April 1960
• ✓Yes: Have a physical disability, a mental disability (including learning difficulties), or a health condition severe enough that you need help caring for yourself or someone to supervise you
• ✓Yes: Have needed that help for at least 6 months (different rules apply if you are nearing the end of life, see below)
• ✓Yes: In Great Britain when you claim, habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, and in Great Britain for at least 2 of the last 3 years (this last part does not apply if you are a refugee or have humanitarian protection status)
• ✓Yes: Not subject to immigration control, unless you are a sponsored immigrant
• ✓Yes: Not getting Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance or Armed Forces Independence Payment
• ✓Yes: Not living in a care home with your care paid for by your local authority. You can still claim if you pay for all your care home costs yourself

The notes that come with the claim form explain what help with personal care and supervision mean. Help with personal care means day-to-day help with things like:

• ✓Yes: Washing, or getting into or out of a bath or shower
• ✓Yes: Dressing
• ✓Yes: Eating
• ✓Yes: Going to or using the toilet
• ✓Yes: Telling people what you need or making yourself understood, if you have a problem, such as learning difficulties, that makes this hard

Supervise means that you need someone to watch over you to help you avoid substantial danger to yourself or other people. This could mean:

• ✓Yes: When you take medicines or have treatment
• ✓Yes: Keeping you away from danger that you may not know is there
• ✓Yes: Avoiding danger you could face because you cannot control the way you behave
• ✓Yes: Stopping you from hurting yourself or other people

You may need help with personal care or supervision because you find it hard to move your arms or legs or have no control over them, get breathless easily or are in pain, or have behaviour difficulties, mental-health problems, or you get confused. You may get the lower rate if you need:

• ✓Yes: Help with personal care frequently throughout the day
• ✓Yes: Help with personal care during the night
• ✓Yes: Someone to supervise you continually throughout the day to help you avoid substantial danger
• ✓Yes: Someone to watch over you at night to help you avoid substantial danger
• ✓Yes: Someone with you when you are on dialysis

You may get the higher rate if you need help with personal care or someone to supervise you throughout the day and also during the night.

There is a quicker way to claim if you are nearing the end of life, sometimes called the special rules for end of life. You are eligible if you have reached State Pension age and your doctor or medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live:

• You get the higher rate of £114.60 per week
• You will not need to go to a face-to-face assessment
• Ask a medical professional for form SR1. They will either fill it in and give it to you or send it straight to DWP
• You can claim for yourself, or someone else can make a claim for you, and they do not need your permission
• The letter about the money awarded will not mention 'special rules'

The legal test is in section 66 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. A person is terminally ill if they suffer from a progressive disease and their death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 12 months. Someone who claims on that ground is taken to satisfy both the day and the night attendance condition, and to have satisfied them for the 6 months before the claim, so the usual 6 month qualifying period does not hold the claim up. A claim made on their behalf counts even if it is made without their knowledge or authority.

Receiving Attendance Allowance can increase your entitlement to other benefits:

• ✓Yes: Pension Credit: if you get Attendance Allowance, you may be entitled to the severe disability additional amount in Pension Credit, £86.05 a week in 2026/27, if no one aged 18 or over normally lives with you (with some exceptions) and no one gets Carer's Allowance or carer support payment for caring for you
• ✓Yes: Council Tax Reduction: you could get extra Council Tax Reduction if you get Attendance Allowance
• ✓Yes: Carer's Allowance: Attendance Allowance is one of the benefits that qualifies a carer, so someone caring for you at least 35 hours a week could get £86.45 a week
• ✓Yes: Housing Benefit: you could get extra Housing Benefit if you get Attendance Allowance

Attendance Allowance in Northern Ireland is administered separately from Great Britain, by the Department for Communities (DfC) through its Disability and Carers Service, not DWP. The rates and the qualifying rules are the same, but the way you claim and challenge a decision is different.

• Same two rates: £76.70 a week lower rate, £114.60 a week higher rate
• Apply for Attendance Allowance online, or ask for a claim pack by emailing dcs.forms@dfcni.gov.uk, calling the Disability and Carers Service on 0800 587 0912, or visiting your local Jobs and Benefits office. You can also download and print the AA1 claim form yourself
• If you request a claim pack by phone or email and return the form within 6 weeks, your claim is backdated to the date of that request, the same 6 week rule as in England and Wales
• It normally takes 30 working days to process a claim, from the day the Disability and Carers Service receives your claim form. A claim made under the special rules for end of life is dealt with much more quickly
• Disability and Carers Service helpline: 0800 587 0912 (this number also covers Disability Living Allowance)

If you disagree with a DWP decision on Attendance Allowance, you can challenge it. Our mandatory reconsideration guide covers the first step in full:

• Ask for a mandatory reconsideration. You usually need to ask within one month of the date on your decision letter, and if you are writing, the letter or form must arrive by then
• Explain what part of the decision is wrong and why, and you can send evidence to support your reasons
• Evidence could be new medical evidence or reports or care plans from specialists, therapists or nurses, and you should only include evidence you have not already sent
• If you still disagree, you can appeal to the independent Social Security and Child Support tribunal within one month of getting your mandatory reconsideration decision
• Appeals are well worth making: across all the benefits the tribunal handles, 60% of appeals cleared at a hearing were overturned in the claimant's favour in April to June 2026 (Ministry of Justice). Attendance Allowance is not published separately
• You can get free help and advice from Citizens Advice, Advicenow or an adviser near you on Advicelocal