Attendance Allowance is a tax-free weekly payment for people of State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision. It is not means-tested. From April 2026 it pays £76.70 a week at the lower rate or £114.60 a week at the higher rate. Many families use it to fund regular home care visits.
Two rates, one test
| Rate | Weekly amount (from April 2026) | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lower rate | £76.70 | Help needed during the day or at night |
| Higher rate | £114.60 | Help needed during the day and at night, or terminally ill |
These figures took effect on 7 April 2026 as part of the annual DWP uprating (a 3.8% increase on 2025/26 rates). They stay in place until April 2027.
The test is whether help is needed because of a disability or condition. No one has to be providing it yet. People often qualify while managing alone in ways that aren’t safe.
Who qualifies
To claim Attendance Allowance, your family member must:
- Be over State Pension age
- Have a physical or mental disability or condition (including long-term illness, frailty, sensory impairment and dementia)
- Have needed help for at least six months (this rule doesn’t apply if they’re terminally ill)
- Be ordinarily resident in Great Britain (Scotland uses a different benefit, Pension Age Disability Payment, with the same rates)
Savings, income, pension, property and other benefits don’t affect eligibility. Whether your family member has £200 in the bank or £200,000, they qualify on care needs alone.
What “needing help” looks like
The form asks about a long list of daily activities, including:
- Getting in and out of bed
- Washing, bathing, showering
- Using the toilet
- Continence
- Dressing
- Eating and drinking
- Taking medication
- Moving around safely
- Reaching things
- Communicating
- Coping at night (getting up, anxiety, disorientation, supervision)
- Staying safe (preventing falls, leaving the cooker on, wandering)
For dementia in particular, supervision counts. Needing someone there for safety is a care need, even on a day with no physical help.
How families use it
There are no restrictions on how Attendance Allowance is spent. At our standard rate of £31 per hour, it covers:
| Attendance Allowance rate | Hours of care it covers per week (at £31/hr) |
|---|---|
| £76.70 (lower) | About 2.5 hours |
| £114.60 (higher) | About 3.7 hours |
That could be a morning visit for washing, dressing and breakfast, a medication prompt or a welfare check.
Many of our clients use it alongside savings, family help and, where eligible, council funding. See our page on council-funded home care.
How to apply
The application is the AA1 form. You can:
- Download it from GOV.UK
- Call the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122 (free)
- Pick up a paper copy from a Citizens Advice or Age UK office
The form asks detailed questions about what help is needed, how often, and what happens if no one is there. Vague answers like “she needs some help in the morning” tend to under-state the need. Specific answers give the decision-maker the information they need. For example:
- “She needs prompting to take her medication or she forgets.”
- “She cannot manage the buttons on her cardigan because of her arthritis.”
- “She needs someone within earshot at night because she gets up to the bathroom and is unsteady.”
The decision usually comes back within a few weeks, sometimes longer. If it’s refused, you can ask for a second look, called a Mandatory Reconsideration. After that, you can appeal.
Where to get help with the form
Age UK Nottinghamshire, Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire and your local Citizens Advice in Newark, Grantham, Bingham and surrounding areas will help you fill it in, free of charge. We can point you to the nearest one.
What to do next
To talk through how Attendance Allowance could fit alongside paid care, call 01636 646915. To check eligibility first, use the GOV.UK “Check your eligibility” tool or the Age UK benefits checker.
