15 December 2023 , 10:09
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Thousands may be eligible to receive a weekly payout worth over £100 a week to people with one of these 56 medical conditions.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a benefit called Attendance Allowance which it says is one of the most "underclaimed benefits" it has. Currently, around 1.6 million people are claiming it, but millions more are also eligible.
Attendance Allowance is paid to Brits over the State Pension age (66 years) who need help with day-to-day personal care or supervision due to their illness or disability. The allowance is paid at two different rates, and the amount you receive depends on the level of care you need due to your disability.
You could get the lower rate of £68.10 or the higher rate of £101.75 a week. This means over course of the year you could receive £5,300. However, it doesn't cover mobility needs. Attendance Allowance is also not means tested so your income or savings are not taken into consideration when claiming.
As the benefit is dependent on the care you need, there is no set medical condition or disability which makes you eligible. This means a whole range of health and medical conditions could make you eligible to claim - if you require additional assistance throughout the day. The DWP says you will have needed help or supervision or have had difficulties for at least six months because of your condition before you can claim.
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According to DWP data, there are 56 health conditions and disabilities which Attendance Allowance claimants most commonly claim for and these include things such as:
- Arthritis
- Spondylosis
- Back Pain Other / Precise Diagnosis not Specified
- Disease of The Muscles, Bones or Joints
- Trauma to Limbs
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Heart disease
- Chest disease
- Asthma
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Cerebrovascular Disease
- Peripheral vascular Disease
- Epilepsy
- Neurological Diseases
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Parkinson's Disease
- Motor Neurone Disease
- Chronic Pain Syndromes
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Metabolic Disease
- Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
- Major Trauma Other than Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
- Learning Difficulties
- Psychosis
- Psychoneurosis
- Personality Disorder
- Dementia
- Behavioural Disorder
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse
- Hyperkinetic syndrome
- Renal Disorders
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Bowel and Stomach Disease
- Blood Disorders
- Haemophilia
- Multi System Disorders
- Multiple Allergy Syndrome
- Skin Disease
- Malignant Disease
- Severely Mentally impaired
- Double Amputee
- Deaf/Blind
- Haemodialysis
- Frailty
- Total Parenteral Nutrition
- AIDS
- Infectious diseases: Viral disease - Coronavirus COVID-19
- Infectious diseases: Viral disease - precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease Tuberculosis
- Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease Malaria
- Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease other / precise diagnosis not specified
- Infectious diseases - other/precise diagnosis not specified
- Cognitive disorder - other / precise diagnosis not specified
- Terminal Illness
If you are terminally ill and not expected to live more than 12 months, then you will be able to claim - there is also a quicker application process for people who are terminally ill and you should receive a decision within two weeks.
According to the DWP, you could also get extra Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction if you receive an Attendance Allowance. To find out more on the benefit you can visit the Attendance Allowance page on Gov.uk here.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]