attendance allowance in UK

[Jayjay27]

can anyone help me please it has been suggested that my husband applies for attendance allowance and I wondered if anyone had any success or any tips

thank you

[jinasc]

Yes and you can do it on line. Which means you can down load it and work your way through it. If you do get stuck Age UK are willing to help and so will Citizens Advice.

I did it for my Cousin and it was quite straight forward - mind that was quite a while ago and the forms could have changed. So get cracking.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

This might help from FAQs -

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

Plus recent post -healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

[Nextoneplease]

I applied for this for my father years ago, and my mum more recently. My tip would be to answer the questions as though you weren’t there to help your husband (or ‘attend’, as they put it). Dad insisted he could boil an egg, which he might have been able to do if you’d got out the egg and saucepan for him, boiled the water and peeled the egg! Mum wanted me to say she could dress herself, but she’d lost the ability to choose appropriate clothes for the weather or occasion, couldn’t use a washing machine and wore the same outfit for months if I let her!

I was overly optimistic in my answers for dad and the allowance was refused. I appealed and eventually got a back payment. With mum I wrote what I knew to be true and we got the allowance without any trouble.

Good luck, it’s worth it when it comes xx

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Nextoneplease]

Not to mention - never about a good day, always the worst day and imagine it is every day because one bad day impinges on the next day ...

[Nextoneplease in reply to PMRpro]

Absolutely! Good point x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Nextoneplease]

They do official assessments only here - the first time they saw him on a good day. And listened to his version. Nothing, zilch. So we struggled on. 3 weeks later he couldn't switch the computer on never mind do anything for himself. They did eventually award the highest rate - but several weeks after he had died and I still haven't got it in the bank. Having spent it all in advance.

A week before he died he told the GP he was fine, yes, he was eating, had had a croissant for breakfast! Yes - 5 days earlier ...

[Nextoneplease in reply to PMRpro]

Such a difficult situation 😟 I remember I was practically on my knees when mum was asked by the social worker how she managed activities of daily living. “Oh fine”, she said, “Lin’s here”, and “We manage, don’t we, Lin?” That’s what officialdom wants to hear, on the whole, and it was probably a year later that I broke down when she was in hospital, and the nursing sister finally backed me up.

Good luck, I hope you get the payment soon xx

[piglette]

I got the full allowance for both my mother and father. My cleaning lady tried for her 90 year old father who was in a pretty bad way and failed. She turned down my offer of help! It is important how you fill in the form.

[HappyDiamonds]

Please phone and ask for a form rather than downloading it as you then qualify for payment from the day the form was requested and will get back payment. I think you have about 4 or 5 weeks to fill out the form and return it. If you download the form, take time to fill it all out gather the necessary papers like recent prescription etc, then post it, wait for it to be opened by DWP etc that's the day payment starts from if approved so it could make a big difference. Good luck I do hope you are successful.

[tangocharlie]

I got it for my step-mum when she was dx with dementia and am in the process of doing it for my dad for general health problems as he's 87. Best people to talk to are Citizens advice and/or Age UK, they know best how to word things to get the necessary points. For example you don't say something is difficult, you say it it is impossible to do it safely, repeatedly and in a reasonable time or without help. I also managed to get myself PIP as I am working-age

[43tripandskip]

My husband and I both got Attendance Allowance - much to our surprise. It is handled by Citizens Advice and they were very helpful. We carefully completed the forms as if we were describing our worst day and this helped a lot in being specific. I am my husband's carer and I didn't expect they'd bother with me. But I was careful to describe how on two occasions I'd had to lunge out to grab my husband's coat tails as he tried to cross a busy road. He's deaf and is unable to anticipate danger. We both received £60 each (the minimum) and we already have enough to replace his mattress and I'm gearing myself up to get a cleaning person to help me. You can spend the money any way you like. There is no restriction. I'd definitely try for it if I were you.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to 43tripandskip]

Do you have any other issues besides PMR-something more tangible the assessment process can “recognise” -like your husband’s deafness for example.

My late hubby got it no problem -but he had angina -and it was 15-20 ago..

[43tripandskip in reply to DorsetLady]

I have osteoarthritis and possible spinal stenosis which restricts my movements. My husband has had a series of illnesses which landed him in hospital, compounded by essential tremor (it looks like Parkinsons - but isn't) this gets worse with stress. He's now got 2 hernia, so along with deafness and a recent 9 day bout of severe diarrhoea we never seem to be free of illness. I should have said that Attendance Allowance is a help towards getting you a Blue Badge.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to 43tripandskip]

Yes he had BB as well -and some shopping outlets /online and actual don’t charge VAT on certain goods.

[Jayjay27 in reply to DorsetLady]

Yes he also has type2 diabetes and uses an intermittent catheter thank you all for your help

[Margaret1951]

Hi, I missed out on a year of AA as no one told me about it, I googled to see what I can get and hey presto I found out I can get it without help from anyone. Very easy form to fill in on line, they did back date it for 3 months also. You should have no problems in getting this now, do it now x

[Researchfreak]

Hi jayjay. I specialised getting Aa for people of pension age an not in receipt of pips or DLA. it is easy to get if he has the qualifying conditions. He needs to require help from another person with his personal can . Require does not mean that he actually receives it. If you tell me what he has got I could point you in the right direction.

[JJAJJ]

Try phoning the DWP and ask for assistance with filling in the form. I got help this way. The lovely man asked about 50 questions and filled in the form for me. He then sent it to me to sign and return. Three months later I have received three months back pay.