Your Rights

Checklist and guide - how to claim Attendance Allowance

Summary: Guidance and tips for filling in an AA claim form.

• What is Attendance Allowance?
• How do I claim?
• Tips for completing the AA claim form
• Checklist of care needs
• If your claim is turned down
• Further information

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What is Attendance Allowance?

Attendance Allowance (AA) is a cash benefit paid to people aged 65 and over who need help with personal care because of a disability or health problem, such as sight loss. For example, you may qualify for AA if you have difficulty with getting dressed, reading, walking around safely, or identifying and cutting up food on your plate.

If you are blind or partially sighted you may qualify for AA. It doesn’t matter how much income or savings you have. We cannot guarantee that you will get AA but many thousands of people with serious sight problems do receive it. It is worth at least £47.10 a week.

If you already get Disability Living Allowance you cannot get AA as well. However if you only get the DLA lower rate care component you may be able to get a greater amount - please contact us for advice.

How do I claim?

You can get a claim pack for AA by phoning the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Benefits Enquiry Line on 0800 88 22 00. If AA is awarded, it will start from the date of this phone call as long as you return the form within six weeks. The form is available in large print if you ask for it.

You can download and print out a form from the DWP website. If you apply this way, your claim will only start from the date your completed form is received by the DWP.

You can also claim Attendance Allowance online. You have to register with the Government electronic gateway to make a claim online.

If you find writing difficult, someone else can fill in the form for you but you normally have to sign it yourself. Another person can claim on your behalf if you have a mental health problem or are terminally ill.

If you have spent a long time in hospital (over 4 weeks), or if you live in a care home, you should get more advice before claiming AA.

Tips for completing the AA claim form

The claim form may seem quite long. Don't be put off. Most claims are decided solely by the information you put on the claim form, so it is important to explain clearly the problems you have because of your sight loss. You don't have to complete the whole form at one sitting. Take time to think carefully about the answers to the questions.

The first few pages of the form ask for your personal details and are quite straightforward to fill in. The form asks about your disabilities and if you see any doctors or specialists. This part of the form is laid out like a table where you list your disabilities, how long you have had them, which part of your body is affected (if it is a condition like arthritis or rheumatism) and asks you to list any medication you take. If you are registered as blind or partially sighted you should say so here and also what date you were registered. If you have a certificate of visual impairment (CVI), or BD8 form, send a copy with the application form. If you were registered sometime ago and your sight has deteriorated since, you should say so. The DWP may want to write to your doctor or hospital doctor to get more information about your condition.

The most important parts of the form are the sections where you explain how your sight loss and other disabilities or health problems affect you. The form asks about:

• the help you need during the day
• the help you need during the night
• when your difficulties began
• anything else you wish to tell the DWP.

If you run out of space on the form, you can write on another sheet of paper and attach it to the form.

The help you need

It is important that these parts of the form are filled in fully. Don't underestimate your needs. Most people find that a positive attitude makes it easier to live with sight loss. However, just on this occasion, try really hard to think of all the things that you can't do or have trouble with because of your disability.

Think about a typical day or week in your life and consider all the times when you may have difficulty or need extra help. It can be very helpful for you, or someone close to you, to make a list of all the things that you need help with over a few days. Even if you only need assistance for a few moments each time, the different types of help add up. For example, when dressing you might need someone to check your clothes are clean or help with fastenings such as zips or shoelaces. You may avoid wearing certain clothing that you find difficult to manage. Maybe you have developed ways of coping with certain activities. However, if an activity takes you much longer than it would take a sighted person, or if it is difficult for you to do it safely, that can be taken into account.

It’s the amount of help that you need that matters, not the amount of help that you actually get

If you are struggling to do things unaided despite difficulties or pain, explain this on the form. If you have to lead a restricted lifestyle because you don’t get all the help you need, this should be taken into account.

A diary of the daily assistance that you need will help to support your Attendance Allowance claim. It may also help you when you are completing the claim form. Download our AA care diary example (Word) for ideas on what to do.

Focus on frequency

To qualify for AA you have to show that you need help ‘frequently throughout the day.' For example, if you need help looking after your appearance, this could add up to six or seven times a day if you include help to check your clothes are clean after a meal, help to find a coat or matching shoes to go out, and so on.

Limitations of special equipment

Special equipment can be useful but often it doesn’t fully solve the problem - some help from another person is still needed. For example, if you are partially sighted you may be able to read using a magnifier but still need help from another person to read long text, small print, handwriting, or writing that you can’t get up close to.

If you use a computer or other equipment to help you communicate, you might need help with setting it up or using it. Explain if you have tried a particular piece of equipment but found it unhelpful.

Special circumstances

Be sure to explain the effects of all health problems, and how they interact with each other. Has your sight or your health got worse recently? Say if your sight loss has been sudden or you have found it hard to adapt. You may have had a bereavement or recently moved to a new home.

Checklist of care needs

This checklist gives examples of the kind of things to think about when explaining about the help you need with seeing. Use it as a guide but remember to give plenty of information in your own words about your personal circumstances.

Washing, bathing and looking after your appearance

Do you need help:

• to adjust shower controls?
• to find and identify different bottles and items in the bathroom?
• to get into or out of the bath?
• to check that your face and hands are clean?
• shaving or putting on make-up?
• washing, rinsing, drying or styling your hair?
• putting toothpaste on the brush or cleaning your dentures?
• cutting your nails?

Do you need someone to act as a mirror several times a day to tell you:

• whether your clothes are clean and tidy?
• whether your hair and general appearance is well groomed?

Help with your toilet needs

Do you need:

• someone to guide you so you can get to the toilet safely, especially in unfamiliar places?
• help to adjust or check your clothing after using the toilet?
• help to find the toilet and the wash basin in unfamiliar places?
• help to use the toilet during the night?
• If you have toilet ‘accidents’, do you need help to change clothes or bedding?

Getting dressed or undressed

Do you need:

• help to find and choose clean, colour co-ordinated clothes that are appropriate for the weather?
• help with fastenings, shoelaces, buttons, etc?
• someone to tell you if a piece of clothing is on inside out or you are wearing odd socks?

Mealtimes

Do you need someone to:

• help you put the food on your plate?
• describe the food on your plate and tell you where each item is?
• cut up certain foods and to remove bones?
• tell you if there is any food left on your plate?
• help you to find other items on the table, eg cutlery, condiments, glass of water?
• tell you if you have spilt food on the table or on your plate?
• help you to read menus or select food in canteens and restaurants?

If you need someone else to cook or prepare food for you, that will not be taken into account. However, if someone helps you to cook for yourself, that should be taken into account. For example, when you cook you may need help to:

• read cooking instructions, recipes and use-by dates
• check that vegetables are properly washed or that food is properly cooked
• use the cooker, microwave oven and any other kitchen equipment such as knives.

Help with medical treatment

Do you need help to:

• identify and sort out your tablets?
• measure and pour liquid medicine?
• read instructions about taking medication?
• take eye drops?
• find dropped or spilled medication?
• manage diabetes, eg testing blood sugar, urine, monitoring and recording results or having insulin injections?
• change batteries in your hearing aid?
  

Do you need help to get around indoors?

Do you need help:

• to move around in your own or other people's homes, and other places such as public buildings or restaurants?
• to get upstairs or downstairs safely?
• to avoid bumping into furniture, doors, doorframes or other obstacles?
• dealing with callers to the house, checking ID, signing receipts?
• coping with changes in the environment, eg moving from sunlight outdoors to a dimly lit building, eg café or theatre?

Do you need help to get around outdoors?

Do you need help:

• to get to particular places in unfamiliar areas?
• to check road signs or to read street names?
• to avoid getting lost or getting into danger in unfamiliar areas?
• to avoid obstacles, eg lampposts, potholes or other pedestrians?
• to cope with kerbs and steps?
• to cross roads safely?
• do you need extra help at night, in poor light or in bright lights?

Public transport

Do you need help to:

• read bus numbers, timetables, identify train platforms or bus stops?
• get onto the bus or train and find a seat?
• handle money to pay your fare?
• find a taxi rank, get into the taxi or pay the driver?

Shopping

Do you need help to:

• find the items you need and read labels
• count your money and change
• sign receipts or use PIN machines?

Please note that if someone else goes shopping for you but you don’t go with them, that won’t be taken into account. Only the help you are given while shopping may be counted.

Accidents, falls and stumbles

Describe any accidents or falls you have had. Try to remember where you fell, whether the fall could have been avoided and if you needed help afterwards, for example to apply first aid. Mention if you stumble on obstacles and hazards indoors or outdoors, such as stairs or uneven paving.

Reading

Do you need help with:

• reading and replying to mail?
• signing cheques, letters or forms?
• reading things about the home such as labels on food and other items? Reading instructions for household items or medication?
• reading newspapers and magazines?
• reading street names, bus numbers and timetables?
• reading in connection with your studies or hobbies, eg needing someone to read the TV listings to you?
  

Other help

Do you need help with locating things you have dropped, or finding items around the home?

Social or leisure activities

You can write about activities that you would like to do, even if you can't do them because you don't get the help you need. For example:

• visiting friends and family
• going out because it makes you feel better, for exercise, or for fresh air. If you would like to go out every day, say so.
• gardening as a hobby
• playing bingo or cards
• going to pubs, restaurants or theatres
• watching television and needing someone to describe or explain what is happening during a programme or film
• identifying tapes or compact discs
• sports, keep fit, swimming
• going to a place of worship and following the service
• voluntary or community work
• reading for leisure, crossword puzzles etc.

Explain about the kinds of help that you need when doing these activities. This may include:

• coping with transport
• guidance when walking in unfamiliar places
• help to locate and use tools or items that you need to follow a hobby
• help to read notices, instructions and other information
• help with handling money and buying tickets, drinks, or other items
• having your surroundings described to you and being told who else is there
• help to recognise friends or acquaintances, to recognise who is talking in a group.

Other information

The claim pack also has a page for someone who knows you to say how your disability or illness affects you. This could be a relative or friend, or a professional such as a doctor or social worker. You do not have to complete this page but it may provide useful evidence for a decision maker.

If your claim is turned down

If your claim is turned down, don't give up. Sometimes the DWP makes the wrong decision, even if the claim pack has been filled in well. You can challenge a decision that you disagree with. In most cases the time limit for doing this is just one month from the date on the decision letter, so act quickly. Seek advice immediately. You can contact RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999.

Further information

To get more information about AA:

• read RNIB’s guide to Money for Pensioners
• phone RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or email helpline@rnib.org.uk
• phone the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Benefits Enquiry Line on 0800 882 200
• visit the Government Directgov website.

RNIB / WRS updated May 2009

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Content author: brit@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 11/05/2009 16:19