State pensioners with a long-term health condition could be entitled to more than £4,000 a year in extra support under Attendance Allowance. The benefit is available to people who have reached State Pension age and need help or supervision because of a disability or health condition.
Attendance Allowance is not means-tested, meaning savings and income are not taken into account when deciding whether someone qualifies. MoneySavingExpert has urged older people to check whether they could be eligible, warning that as many as one million pensioners may be missing out on the support.
Warning over claims companies
The consumer website highlighted a case where a pensioner paid over £1,000 from her successful award after a company submitted the claim on her behalf. MoneySavingExpert said: “One MoneySaver, Patricia, told us she had unwittingly agreed to pay over £1,000 from her successful Attendance Allowance award after a company submitted the claim on her behalf.
“Patricia had enlisted the support of the firm after seeing an advert on Facebook. She'd been turned down for other benefits before, and needed help applying. She was awarded £110 a week, but she then had to pay the firm £1,033 – equivalent to 18% of the benefits she would get in the first year.”
Rates and eligibility
The key rule is that claimants must have a physical or mental disability or health condition which means they require additional help or supervision. People do not necessarily need to have someone currently providing that care in order to make a claim.
Attendance Allowance is paid at two different rates depending on the level of support a person needs. The lower rate is currently worth £76.70 a week, equivalent to almost £4,000 a year, and is available to people who need frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night. Those who need help or supervision throughout both the day and night can receive the higher rate of £114.60 a week, which works out at £5,959.20 over a full year.
People who have been told by a medical professional that they may be nearing the end of life can also qualify for the higher rate. Attendance Allowance can be claimed for a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, with entitlement based on the level of help someone needs rather than simply their diagnosis. Unlike some other disability benefits, it does not include a separate mobility component.
Additional support and free help
MoneySavingExpert said the payment could also act as a gateway to further support, with recipients potentially able to get additional Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction. However, the consumer website has warned pensioners against unnecessarily paying companies to submit claims on their behalf.
Free support is available for people who need help completing an application, including through organisations such as Age UK and Citizens Advice. MoneySavingExpert said the Attendance Allowance form can require substantial detail because the DWP assesses a person's needs from the information supplied rather than routinely carrying out a physical health assessment. In Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment, although MoneySavingExpert says the benefit has essentially the same qualifying criteria and value.
