Certain health conditions can qualify pensioners for a payment boost from the DWP.
Pensioners with care needs can apply for Attendance Allowance, which is worth up to £5,740 a year (Image: Getty)
State pensioners with care needs due to a health condition or disability are being urged to claim a benefit that could give them up to £5,740 extra per year from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Attendance Allowance is awarded to people of State Pension age who require a certain level of care to help with extra living costs. The benefit is paid at two different rates and the amount you can get depends on how much care you need. Currently, the lower rate is worth £73.90 per week and is given to those who need frequent help or constant supervision during day or at night, and the higher rate is worth £110.40 per week and is given to those who need help or supervision throughout the day and night, or if a medical professional has said you’re nearing the end of life.
Attendance Allowance is paid every four weeks, so claimants will get 13 payments in total from the DWP per year. As such, pensioners on the lower rate can get up to £295.60 per month, or £3,842.80 per year, while those on the higher rate can get up to £441.60 per month, or £5,740.80 per year.
The DWP has issued a reminder to pensioners this month to check their eligibility for Attendance Allowance as it can give them an annual payment boost of up to £5,740.80. The reminder comes as Winter Fuel Payments start to be rolled out to pensioner households in England and Wales this month.
The DWP said: “We’re committed to supporting pensioners with the cost of living, ensuring they can retire with the dignity and financial security they deserve. The [Winter Fuel] payments sit alongside the government’s commitment to the Triple Lock, which means millions of pensioners are set to see their State Pension rise by up to £1,900 over the course of this Parliament.
“Pensioners on low incomes can also apply for further support this winter through Pension Credit – worth around £4,300 on average a year – while those with care needs can apply for Attendance Allowance, worth up to £5,740 a year in some cases, and we will continue to urge anyone who thinks they are eligible to apply.”
To be eligible for either Attendance Allowance or PADP you must have reached State Pension age AND all of the following apply:
- you have a physical disability, a mental disability, or a health condition
- your disability or health condition is severe enough for you to need help caring for yourself or someone to supervise you, for your own or someone else’s safety
- you have needed that help for at least six months
The benefit is paid to eligible pensioners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but if you live in Scotland you will need to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) instead which is paid at exactly the same rate.
While there isn’t a definitive list of health conditions that qualify for Attendance Allowance and PADP, the DWP does have a list of 56 main disabling conditions recorded on its Disability Living Allowance computer system.
If you have one of these conditions you may be likely to qualify for up to £5,740.80 worth of annual support, but it is important to note that this is not a checklist for qualifying for Attendance Allowance or PAPD, it is simply an overview of the type of conditions that are being supported. The conditions include:
- Arthritis
- Spondylosis
- Back Pain – Other / Precise Diagnosis not Specified
- Disease of The Muscles, Bones or Joints
- Trauma to Limbs
- Visual Disorders and Diseases
- Hearing Disorders
- Heart disease
- Respiratory Disorders and Diseases
- Asthma
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Cerebrovascular Disease
- Peripheral vascular Disease
- Epilepsy
- Neurological Diseases
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Parkinsons 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
- Terminally Ill
