Attendance Allowance: £76.70 or £114.60 a week and six months of needing care

Attendance Allowance helps with the extra costs of a disability or health condition severe enough that you need someone to help look after you. There are two weekly rates: £76.70 and £114.60.

How much do you get, and what decides the rate?

There are two rates, and which one you get depends on the level of help you need rather than on your diagnosis.

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The lower rate of £76.70 a week is for frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night. The higher rate of £114.60 a week is for help or supervision throughout both day and night, or where a medical professional has said you are nearing the end of life.

If your circumstances change you could move to a different rate — but you must report the change yourself.

Does income or savings affect it?

No. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested: what you earn and how much you have in savings do not affect what you get.

It can even increase other payments. Getting Attendance Allowance may entitle you to extra Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction — check with the office dealing with that particular benefit.

Who is eligible?

Three basic conditions: you have reached State Pension age; you have a physical disability (including a sensory disability such as blindness), a mental disability (including learning difficulties) or a health condition; and that condition is severe enough that you need help caring for yourself, or supervision for your own or someone else's safety.

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One more condition is easy to overlook: you must have needed that help for at least six months. Different rules apply if you are nearing the end of life — the claim can be processed faster and at the higher rate.

What are the residence requirements?

You must be in Great Britain when you claim and have been in Great Britain for at least two of the last three years. That second requirement does not apply if you are a refugee or have humanitarian protection status.

You must also be habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, and not be subject to immigration control — unless you are a sponsored immigrant.

There is a further restriction: you cannot get Attendance Allowance if you already receive DLA, PIP, Adult Disability Payment, Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance or Armed Forces Independence Payment.

What if you live in Scotland?

In Scotland you apply for Pension Age Disability Payment instead. If you already get Attendance Allowance and move to Scotland from England or Wales, you must tell DWP.

How do you claim?

Online or by post. You will need your National Insurance number, your address and contact details, details of the disability or health condition, details of your GP surgery or medical centre, and details of your care home, hospital or hospice if you are staying in one.

You can print the paper claim form yourself or request one from the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. If you cannot hear or speak on the phone, Relay UK works on 18001 then 0800 731 0122, and there is a British Sign Language video relay service.

Send the completed form to Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance. Write nothing else on the envelope — no postcode and no stamp are needed.

ONLYWAY NEWS explains British benefits from GOV.UK primary sources, with the rates, deadlines and phone numbers.