Attendance Allowance in a Care Home: Can You Claim?

If you’re a UK care seeker, there are lots of care home benefits and funding options you should know about.

One of the most common benefits is Attendance Allowance. We’re here to explain exactly what this is and whether you’re eligible to claim it.

In this article on attendance allowance in care homes:

1. What is attendance allowance?
2. Can you claim attendance allowance in a care home?
3. Attendance allowance for the terminally ill
4. Attendance allowance rates
5. Am I eligible?
6. Do I need supporting information?
7. Receiving the decision
8. Appealing the decision
9. Change of circumstances advice
10. How attendance allowance may affect other benefits

What is Attendance Allowance?

Attendance Allowance is a pensioner benefit for people who have reached State Pension age and need an elevated level of care, due to a physical or mental disability, or a terminal illness.

Additional care services required by your loved one or somebody else could include help with personal care like dressing, washing and getting in and out of bed. It could also include assistance with day-to-day tasks, or more specific care involving medical treatments.

However, you aren’t required to have someone caring for you to be eligible for Attendance Allowance.

Can You Claim Attendance Allowance in a Care Home?

When you move into a care home and your care is paid for by your local authority, you’ll continue receiving Attendance Allowance for the first 28 days, after which point it’ll stop. If you pay for your own care home costs, you can continue claiming Attendance Allowance in a care home.

In nursing homes, people who only receive the Registered Nursing Care Contribution from the NHS to help cover costs can still continue to receive Attendance Allowance. 

Attendance Allowance for the Terminally Ill

People who live in a hospice and have been diagnosed with a terminal illness can also continue to receive Attendance Allowance. Many people living with this type of illness can access a special application process which operates at a much quicker pace. Otherwise, we'd recommend you speak to an adviser. Citizens Advice offer invaluable advice regarding this topic.

You can also apply for Attendance Allowance on behalf of someone else if they are too ill to apply themselves, if they don’t know their illness is terminal, or if they are struggling to come to terms with their diagnosis. You can fill out the form and sign it for them, but the money will be paid to them. 

This information is treated confidentially and the person will not be informed that they are terminally ill. 

This can be a really difficult time for relatives and friends, so if you’re finding it hard to cope, why not speak to an adviser who can help. 

As well as the Attendance Allowance form, you will need to send a DS1500 medical condition report. This can be given by a doctor, specialist or consultant and is a free report that describes the terminal condition and its treatment. 

Attendance Allowance Rates

There are two different rates of Attendance Allowance and the amount you receive depends on the level of care you need. 

For example, if you only need care during the day, you will be eligible for the lower rate, while if you require 24-hour care, or you have a terminal illness, you will usually receive the higher rate. The decided amount will be paid weekly into your bank account.

The Attendance Allowance rates for 2023/24 are as follows:

Am I Eligible?

Attendance Allowance is not a means-tested benefit and can be paid regardless of your income, savings or National Insurance contribution record. It’s also a tax-free benefit! 

However, to be eligible for Attendance Allowance, you must fulfil the following four criteria:

• You must have reached State Pension age (65+ years)

• You must need help caring for yourself due to a mental or physical disability or illness

• You must have had this disability or illness for at least six months, unless you are terminally ill

• You must be normally living in the UK

  
  

To find out whether you are eligible for Attendance Allowance, all you have to do is fill out a form to make a claim. 

We have a guide dedicated to which medical conditions qualify for Attendance Allowance.

If you live in Scotland, Attendance Allowance is not available, as everyone over 65 who have been assessed as needing Attendance Allowance is in fact entitled to free personal care.

Do I Need Supporting Information?

You may be asked to provide some supporting information about your health and the level of care you need when you submit your application. This may include:

• A letter from your GP or health consultant

• Your care plan from your local council

• GP appointment letters

• Prescription lists

• Information from a Community Psychiatric Nurse

• Reports from an occupational therapist with details of the equipment and specific adaptations you require

Be sure to give plenty of detail in your application. One of the most common Attendance Allowance pitfalls is withholding certain pieces of relevant information.

Occasionally, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may contact you, your doctor or another reference on your form to request more information. 

In some cases, they may ask that a doctor visit you to ask questions and examine you. If you live in Northern Ireland, the Department for Communities (DfC) will be the one to get in touch. 

Receiving the Decision

When you have applied for Attendance Allowance, you will receive a written decision on your claim form that tells you what rates of benefit have been agreed and the date they will start.

Sometimes Attendance Allowance is granted for a fixed period of time – if this is the case, the written decision will give an end date. 

Attendance Allowance can be awarded for a fixed period or for an indefinite period. If you are awarded the benefit for a fixed period, the decision will tell you when the period ends. A new claim form will be sent to you well before the period of your award ends.

We have a guide dedicated to Attendance Allowance pitfalls and mistakes to avoid. Following this guide will make your application more likely to be approved.

Appealing the Decision

If your claim is refused, or you are given a lower rate than expected, you can go to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you are in England, Wales or Scotland, or the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland to ask for a second decision. 

This is known as a mandatory reconsideration and must be done before you can appeal the decision. If the second decision is also a no, you can lodge an appeal with the Tribunal Service for England, Wales and Scotland, or the Appeals Service (TAS) in Northern Ireland. 

There is a time limit of one month to do this, so it’s a good idea to act as quickly as possible. 

Change of Circumstances Advice

If there are any changes to your circumstances, for example, you go into hospital, or your care needs increase, again you can contact the DWP or the Disability and Carers Service in Northern Ireland. 

You will need to fill out the form detailing exactly how your care needs have changed. We advise calling the Attendance Allowance helpline or contacting an advice service before requesting that your case is re-examined. 

Some of the most common changes to circumstances you will need to inform the DWP of are:

• Going into hospital for more than 28 days

• Your condition gets better or worse

• The level of care you need increases

• You go into a care home

• You move abroad, temporarily or permanently

• You go into prison

If you go into hospital, your payments will stop and start again on the day you go in or out. Top tip: If you need to work out the total days you spent in the hospital, don’t count the day you went in or came out. 

The DWP might actually send you a new form to complete and send back if you’ve spent a significant amount of time in the hospital.

If your circumstances change in any way, contact the DWP as soon as possible, as the change may affect your payment and you could risk missing out on money by delaying telling them. 

Alternatively, if you inform the DWP of a change that reduces your Attendance Allowance, you may have to pay money back, so there is no benefit to reporting a change late. 

How Attendance Allowance May Affect Other Benefits

Claiming Attendance Allowance will not negatively affect any other benefits you are eligible for such as income support and housing benefit – in fact, it might even increase the amount you receive from other benefits, including Pension Credit and Council Tax Reduction. 

If you receive Attendance Allowance, your local authority may take this into consideration for your care needs assessment when they decide whether they should contribute to the costs of your care.

Searching for care can be a stressful and time-consuming experience. Thankfully, Lottie removes much of the difficulty from this process by connecting elderly people to the UK’s very best care homes through years of human expertise and smart technology.

Check out our list of care homes near you and across the UK by visiting our search page!