What Attendance Allowance is
Attendance Allowance is a benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental health condition or disability. It is tax-free and, crucially, it is not means-tested — your income, pensions, savings and investments are completely ignored. It sits alongside your State Pension rather than replacing it, and it pays straight into your bank account, usually every four weeks.
It is the benefit for people who are already over State Pension age. If you are under State Pension age and have similar care needs, you claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) instead. Attendance Allowance has no mobility component — it is purely about the help you need to look after yourself, not about getting around.
One of the most important things to understand is that you do not need to already be getting any help, and you do not need a carer. The test is whether you need help — so someone living alone with nobody helping them, who genuinely struggles to manage, can still qualify. See our wider benefits and entitlements guide for how this fits with everything else you can claim.
The two rates for 2026/27
There are two weekly rates, and which one you get depends on how often you need help — not on the specific condition you have.
| Rate | 2026/27 weekly amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lower rate | £76.70 | You need help or supervision during the day or during the night. |
| Higher rate | £114.60 | You need help or supervision during the day and at night, or you are terminally ill. |
Both rates rose in April 2026, up from £73.90 (lower) and £110.40 (higher) in 2025/26. The figures are confirmed in the GOV.UK Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027. Over a year, the higher rate is worth almost £5,960.
Who qualifies
To be eligible for Attendance Allowance you must:
- be over State Pension age (people under it claim PIP instead);
- have a physical or mental health condition or disability that means you need help with personal care or supervision to stay safe;
- have needed that help for at least six months (this qualifying period is waived if you are terminally ill — see below);
- normally be in Great Britain, and habitually resident, with some exceptions.
"Help with personal care" covers things like washing, bathing, dressing, eating, drinking, taking medication, getting in and out of bed, and using the toilet. "Supervision" covers needing someone around to keep you safe — for example because of falls, confusion, seizures or memory problems. You qualify if you need this help, whether or not anyone is actually providing it.
Because Attendance Allowance is ignored as income, a successful claim can do more than just add the weekly payment — it can increase your Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. In particular it can trigger the "severe disability addition" in Pension Credit, worth more than £82 a week, for people who live alone and have no one paid Carer's Allowance to look after them. If you are not already getting Pension Credit, check it again once Attendance Allowance is in payment — see our Pension Credit guide.
Why "not means-tested" matters so much
It is worth repeating, because it is the single biggest reason people fail to claim something they are entitled to: Attendance Allowance does not look at your money at all. There is no income limit and no savings cap. You can own your home, have a comfortable private pension and tens of thousands in the bank, and still receive the full amount. The only question is whether your health means you need help.
That makes Attendance Allowance unusual. Most pensioner benefits — Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction — are means-tested, so savings reduce them. Attendance Allowance is the opposite: it is a "passport" benefit that can open up those means-tested benefits by creating extra disability premiums, while itself being completely unaffected by your finances.
Speak to a care fees specialist
Care fees average £60,000+ a year. A regulated care-fees adviser can help you protect assets and access the funding you’re entitled to.
How it can boost your Pension Credit
This is where Attendance Allowance often pays for itself several times over. When you claim Pension Credit, the DWP works out an "applicable amount" — a minimum income figure for your circumstances. Receiving Attendance Allowance can add the severe disability addition (more than £82 a week) to that figure, while the Attendance Allowance itself is disregarded as income. The result: people who were just above the Pension Credit threshold can suddenly qualify, and people already on it can get more.
The severe disability addition generally applies if you receive Attendance Allowance, live alone (or are treated as living alone), and no one is paid Carer's Allowance for looking after you. Because Pension Credit is itself a gateway to a free TV licence (over-75s), Council Tax Reduction and the Warm Home Discount, one Attendance Allowance claim can set off a chain of extra help worth thousands a year.
How to claim: the form, and the date that decides your money
You claim using the Attendance Allowance claim form, the AA1. It runs to around 30 pages and the wording you use matters a great deal. There are now three routes, and which one you pick changes the date your claim starts - which is worth real money.
| How you claim | What to do | Your claim starts |
|---|---|---|
| Online | Apply through the DWP service at gov.uk/attendance-allowance. | On the date you apply |
| Phone first, then post | Ring 0800 731 0122 (textphone 0800 731 0317) and ask for a form, then return it within 6 weeks. | On the date of your call, not the date DWP receives the form |
| Download and post | Print the form and send it to Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance. No stamp and no postcode needed - write nothing else on the envelope. | On the date DWP receives it |
This is the single most valuable piece of admin in the whole process. If you telephone for the form and return it within six weeks, your claim is treated as starting on the day you rang. Taking five weeks over the form then costs you nothing. Download the same form and post it instead, and you lose every week you spent on it - at £114.60 a week on the higher rate, a five-week delay is over £570.
Whichever route you use, Citizens Advice, Age UK and Independent Age will help you complete the form for free. Their advisers do this every day and know how to describe needs in the terms the DWP actually assesses.
What happens after you send it
DWP sends a text or letter within three weeks telling you when to expect a decision. Some claims are decided on the paperwork alone; others involve a call or, less often, a face-to-face assessment. If you are awarded the benefit, payment is backdated to your claim start date, so a long wait does not cost you money.
If you are refused, ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month. A significant share of refusals are overturned at this stage or on appeal, usually because the original form understated how much help was needed rather than because anything changed. Do not treat a first refusal as the end of it.
The most common mistake on the AA1 is being too stoic. People who "get by" understate how much help they need, and the claim is refused or under-awarded. Instead, describe a bad day: how long tasks really take, the times you cannot manage at all, the help you need at night, and the days you go without. Be specific: "it takes me 40 minutes to get dressed and I need my daughter to do the buttons" is far more useful than "I struggle with dressing". Keep a diary for a week before you fill it in.
Two worked examples
Situation: Joan has severe arthritis. During the day she struggles to wash, dress and prepare meals, and she needs help getting in and out of the bath. At night she sleeps without difficulty. She has a private pension and £30,000 in savings.
- Her savings and pension are completely irrelevant — Attendance Allowance is not means-tested.
- She needs help during the day only, so she qualifies for the lower rate of £76.70/week (about £3,988/year).
- Because she lives alone with no one paid to care for her, claiming Attendance Allowance also makes her worth checking for the Pension Credit severe disability addition.
Situation: Derek has Parkinson's disease. By day he needs help with washing, dressing and eating; at night he needs help to get to the toilet and to reposition in bed. He lives alone and nobody claims Carer's Allowance for him. His income is just above the Pension Credit threshold.
- He needs help day and night, so he qualifies for the higher rate of £114.60/week (about £5,959/year).
- The Attendance Allowance is ignored as income, but it adds the severe disability addition (£82+/week) to his Pension Credit calculation — lifting him over the threshold and creating Pension Credit entitlement he did not have before.
- That Pension Credit then passports him to Council Tax Reduction and, at 82, a free TV licence. One form unlocked thousands a year.
- 1 You need help or supervision during the day only (e.g. washing, dressing, eating, staying safe)→ You qualify for the lower rate of £76.70/week, provided the need has lasted (or is expected to last) at least six months.
- 2 You need help or supervision during the night only→ You also qualify for the lower rate of £76.70/week. Night-time needs alone meet the test — describe getting to the toilet, repositioning, or someone watching over you.
- 3 You need help or supervision both during the day AND at night→ You qualify for the higher rate of £114.60/week. Be specific on the form about needs around the clock — the higher rate is often under-claimed.
- 4 You are terminally ill (expected to live 12 months or less)→ You are fast-tracked under the "Special Rules", automatically paid the higher rate of £114.60/week, with the usual six-month qualifying period waived.
Day, night and the Special Rules for terminal illness
The distinction between the two rates comes down to when you need help. Needing help or supervision during the day or the night gets you the lower rate; needing it during the day and the night gets you the higher rate. "Night" needs are often overlooked — getting to the toilet, being repositioned, or someone watching over you because you might wander or fall all count, so describe them clearly.
If you are terminally ill — defined as reasonably expected to live 12 months or less — you can claim under the Special Rules. These fast-track the claim, waive the usual six-month qualifying period, and pay the higher rate automatically. A claim can be made on your behalf, and a healthcare professional provides the supporting medical evidence (form SR1). It is one of the few parts of the benefits system designed to move quickly.
Scotland: Pension Age Disability Payment
If you live in Scotland, Attendance Allowance is being replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment, delivered by Social Security Scotland rather than the DWP. The rates are identical (£76.70 and £114.60 a week for 2026/27) and the eligibility is broadly the same, so you will not be worse off. New claimants in Scotland generally apply for Pension Age Disability Payment, and existing Attendance Allowance awards are being transferred across automatically. The rest of this guide still applies in spirit — just under the new name.
What you can spend it on
The money is yours to spend as you choose. There is no requirement to spend it on formal "care", and the DWP does not check. People use Attendance Allowance for taxis to appointments, a cleaner or gardener, extra heating, ready meals or food deliveries, a personal alarm, mobility aids and equipment, or to pay a family member who helps them. The point is to offset the extra costs of living with a disability — however those costs show up in your life.
If care at home or a care home is on the horizon, Attendance Allowance is part of a bigger picture. Read our guide to paying for care home fees to see how this benefit fits alongside local-authority funding and your own resources, and check whether a carer who looks after you should claim Carer's Allowance. You may also be due the Winter Fuel Payment on top.
Speak to a care fees specialist
Care fees average £60,000+ a year. A regulated care-fees adviser can help you protect assets and access the funding you’re entitled to.
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Benefit rates and rules change each tax year and differ across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The figures here are for guidance — always check the current position on GOV.UK or get a free benefits check before relying on them. See our disclaimer.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Attendance Allowance means tested?
- No. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested. Your income, savings, pensions and investments make absolutely no difference to whether you can claim or how much you get. There is no upper savings limit and no income cut-off. It is also tax-free, and it does not reduce your State Pension. This is one of the most misunderstood points: many people with a decent private pension or money in the bank assume they cannot claim, when in fact they can. The only test is whether your physical or mental health condition means you need help with personal care or supervision.
- What are the Attendance Allowance rates for 2026/27?
- For 2026/27 there are two weekly rates: the lower rate is £76.70 a week and the higher rate is £114.60 a week. The lower rate is for people who need help or supervision either during the day or during the night; the higher rate is for people who need help both day and night, or who are terminally ill. These rates rose from £73.90 and £110.40 in April 2026. The money is paid every four weeks directly into your bank account.
- What are the criteria for Attendance Allowance?
- To qualify you must be over State Pension age, and have a physical or mental health condition or disability that means you need help with personal care (such as washing, dressing, eating, taking medication or using the toilet) or need someone to supervise you to keep you safe. You normally need to have needed this help for at least six months before you can be paid (this qualifying period is waived if you are terminally ill). You do not need to already be getting that help, and you do not need a carer — you only have to show that you need help. People under State Pension age claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) instead.
- How do I apply for Attendance Allowance?
- You apply using the Attendance Allowance claim form, known as the AA1. You can now apply online through the DWP service on GOV.UK, request a paper form by calling the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122, or download and print it. The route matters: if you ring for a form and return it within six weeks, the claim is treated as starting on the date of your call, whereas a downloaded form only starts from the day DWP receives it. The form is long (around 30-plus pages) and asks in detail about the help you need with day-to-day tasks. Take your time, describe your worst days rather than your best, and say how long tasks take and what help you need at night. Charities such as Citizens Advice and Age UK can help you complete it for free.
- Do I have to be getting care already to claim Attendance Allowance?
- No. This is a common reason people wrongly rule themselves out. You only have to show that you need help — not that you are actually receiving it. So someone living alone with nobody helping them, but who genuinely struggles to wash, dress or stay safe, can still qualify. Equally, you do not need to have a paid carer or a family member providing care. The decision is based on your needs, not on the support that happens to be in place.
- Does Attendance Allowance affect my State Pension or other benefits?
- It does not reduce your State Pension, and it is ignored as income for Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. In fact, claiming Attendance Allowance can increase those benefits, because it can trigger extra "severe disability" amounts — often worth more than £82 a week of additional Pension Credit. You normally cannot receive Attendance Allowance at the same time as the care component of Disability Living Allowance, the daily living part of PIP, or (in Scotland) Pension Age Disability Payment, as these cover the same need.
- What can I spend Attendance Allowance on?
- The money is yours to spend however you choose — there is no requirement to spend it on "care". People use it for taxis to appointments, a cleaner or gardener, extra heating, ready meals, a personal alarm, mobility aids, or to pay a family member who helps them. The benefit is designed to help with the extra costs of living with a disability, and the DWP does not check how you spend it.
- How long does an Attendance Allowance claim take?
- Once you send the form in, a decision usually takes several weeks — often around six to eight, sometimes longer if the DWP needs more information or arranges a brief assessment. If your claim succeeds, payment is normally backdated to the date the DWP received your form (or the date you first contacted them for the form, if you return it within the time allowed), so it is worth registering your intention to claim early. Under the Special Rules for terminal illness, claims are fast-tracked and paid much more quickly.
- Is Attendance Allowance changing in Scotland?
- Yes. In Scotland, Attendance Allowance is being replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment, delivered by Social Security Scotland. The rates are the same (£76.70 and £114.60 a week for 2026/27) and the eligibility is broadly equivalent, so people in Scotland will not be worse off. If you live in Scotland you generally apply for Pension Age Disability Payment rather than Attendance Allowance; existing Attendance Allowance awards are being transferred across automatically.