Get yourAttendance Allowance

Common mistakes include: downplaying your needs or being too vague, only ticking boxes without using the large text boxes to explain in detail, not describing how your conditions interact with each other, focusing on housework/cooking instead of personal care needs, and failing to describe what would happen if you didn't have help. Many successful applicants spend 2-3 hours completing the form with detailed examples.

Yes. You can get Attendance Allowance even if you live alone and no one is helping you. The benefit is based on the help you need, not the help you currently receive. You must be State Pension age or over and have needed help with personal care or supervision for at least 6 months due to physical or mental disability.

Use the large boxes to give detailed, specific examples of your care needs. Describe exactly what happens on your worst days, how long tasks take, what could go wrong without help, and how your conditions affect you. Include prompting, reminding, supervising, reassuring, and safety concerns. Use real examples like 'On bad days 3 times per week I need my daughter to encourage me to get out of bed because...' The more detail, the better.

Lower rate (£73.90/week) is for people who need help or supervision frequently during the day, or supervision at night. Higher rate (£110.90/week) is for people who need help or supervision during both day and night, or if you're terminally ill. The rate depends on how your disability affects you across the full 24-hour period.

Common rejection reasons include: not providing enough detail in the text boxes, focusing on housework rather than personal care needs, not explaining how conditions interact, being too modest about care needs, or insufficient medical evidence. Many initial refusals are overturned on mandatory reconsideration or appeal when the form is completed properly with detailed examples.

First request mandatory reconsideration within 1 month of the decision letter. Explain in detail why you disagree and provide additional evidence. If still refused, you can appeal to an independent tribunal within 1 month of the mandatory reconsideration notice. Many decisions are overturned at tribunal - success rates are high if you attend the hearing in person with proper evidence.

Yes. Attendance Allowance covers any physical or mental disability that means you need help with personal care or supervision. This includes dementia, Alzheimer's, arthritis, depression, anxiety, COPD, heart conditions, stroke, Parkinson's, cancer, diabetes, and many others. What matters is how your condition affects your daily living, not the diagnosis itself.

Standard applications typically take 6-12 weeks to process. If you're terminally ill (expected to live less than 12 months), you should receive a decision within 2 weeks under special rules and automatically receive the higher rate for 3 years. Your claim starts from the date DWP receives your form, or the date you called for a form if returned within 6 weeks.