Attendance Allowance
For more information, visit the Parkinson’s UK website (last updated July 2025).
Attendance Allowance is a benefit for people over State Pension age in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have an illness or disability and need help with their personal care or safety.
State Pension age is gradually increasing.
Attendance Allowance is for you, not for a carer, and you don’t need to have someone supporting or caring for you to qualify. Attendance Allowance is based on the help you need, not on the help you currently get.
The Attendance Allowance claim form is quite long, and can be difficult to fill in because it deals with personal care issues. But it’s worth taking the time to do it, because getting Attendance Allowance can increase your weekly income.
Pension Age Disability Payment is Scotland’s equivalent to Attendance Allowance, with similar rules.
Pension Age Disability Payment
Do I qualify for Attendance Allowance?
You’re eligible for Attendance Allowance if:
- you’re State Pension age
- you’ve had care or supervision needs for the last 6 months (the ‘qualifying period’)
- you’ve been living in the UK for 2 of the last 3 years and your immigration status doesn’t prevent you claiming
- you’re ‘habitually resident’ in the UK, and
- you’re terminally ill, or
- you satisfy one of the disability tests
Attendance Allowance is not means-tested. So any income or savings you have don’t affect whether you’re awarded it or how much you get.
What are the disability tests?
To get Attendance Allowance, you must have a severe physical or mental disability (or both) that means you reasonably need (but you don’t necessarily receive) the following help:
- care from another person several times throughout the day to help with your ‘bodily functions’. This can include help getting in and out of bed, getting dressed and undressed, washing and other personal hygiene needs, going to the toilet, taking medication, eating, cutting up food, drinking and communicating with other people, or
- continual supervision (being checked on or watched regularly – but not non-stop) throughout the day to make sure you’re safe and/or not a danger to yourself or others, or
- care from another person at least twice each night, or for 20 minutes or more, to help you with your ‘bodily functions’ (as described above), or
- another person to be awake and watch over you to make sure that you’re safe or not a danger to others, at least 3 times each night, or for 20 minutes or more each night
How do I claim Attendance Allowance?
You can claim online on the government website at the link below.
Once you send off the completed claim form, the Department for Work and Pensions (or the Disability and Carers Service in Northern Ireland) may contact your GP, specialist or Parkinson’s nurse for further information. Or it may send one of its doctors to your home to assess you before they approve your claim (this is very rare).
How long is Attendance Allowance awarded for?
Attendance Allowance may be awarded to you for an indefinite period (where there’s no set end date) or for a fixed period of time. If it’s for a fixed period, you’ll normally be sent a renewal claim form 4 months before your existing claim runs out.
Does Attendance Allowance affect other benefits?
Receiving Attendance Allowance can increase the amount of any means-tested benefits (such as Pension Credit) you get. Attendance Allowance can be paid in addition to any other social security benefits.
Attendance Allowance is not taxable. It’s not based on National Insurance contributions.
Your local authority might take Attendance Allowance into account when considering if you need to contribute to the cost of any care and support services you receive from them.
Can I claim Attendance Allowance alongside PIP or DLA?
No. If you already get Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) you’ll continue to get that benefit and you won’t be able to claim Attendance Allowance.
What if I go into hospital or a care home?
Your payment will stop after you’ve been in hospital for a total of 4 weeks (either in 1 stay, or several stays, where the gaps between stays are no more than 4 weeks each time).
You can’t usually get Attendance Allowance if you live in a care home and your care is paid for by your local authority. You can still claim Attendance Allowance if you pay for all your care home costs yourself.
What if I’m refused Attendance Allowance?
If you feel that you’ve been wrongly refused Attendance Allowance, it’s worth asking the Department for Work and Pensions (or the Disability and Carers Service in Northern Ireland) for a ‘mandatory reconsideration’ of its decision.
You have 1 month from the date of the decision to do this. You can ask for a mandatory reconsideration over the phone, but it’s best to confirm in writing.
It can help if you get a letter from your GP, specialist or Parkinson’s nurse, pointing out what your care needs are. The letter may simply state that they have read the diary you’ve kept of your care needs and they agree that those needs are a result of your condition.
What if there’s a change in my condition?
If you get the lower rate of Attendance Allowance and your condition progresses, you can ask the Department for Work and Pensions (or the Disability and Carers Service in Northern Ireland) to look at your claim again and consider the higher rate.
They may do this if you need help to keep yourself safe, you need to be looked after both during the day and the night, or if you develop a terminal illness.
Before putting in your request, try to get some advice and information about the process. If the Department for Work and Pensions receives information that your care needs have decreased, your benefit may be withdrawn.
Before asking for a review, you should consider how your needs have increased on a daily basis.
It can be helpful to get medical support before you ask for a review. A letter from your GP, specialist or Parkinson’s nurse stating your current care needs will help. The letter may simply say that they’ve read the diary of your care needs and agree your condition would create the needs you’ve mentioned.
To ask for a review, you need to contact:
- Attendance Allowance Unit (for England and Wales)
- Disability and Carers Service – Attendance Allowance (for Northern Ireland)