What is Attendance Allowance Pitfalls and How To Avoid These?

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Attendance Allowance Pitfalls

If you are above the eligibility age of receiving your state pension and are in need of regular support or care, then attendance allowance may help in maintaining the independence with little extra money every week.

Here we have all the details about attendance allowance pitfalls, eligibility criteria, application process and so much more.

What is the attendance allowance? 

Attendance allowance is a benefit or payment for older people above the state pension age. Any UK resident who falls within the eligibility criteria or suffering from serious injury, illness and requiring supervision.

One of the benefits available to older people is Winter fuel payments and Personal Independence payments. These are provided by the government to help the vulnerable members of society to help improve quality of life and finances.

Attendance allowance eligibility 

The eligibility for attendance allowance includes being older than the age of state retirement i.e around 66.                                                                                                                                                      

Medical conditions eligibility

It is critical to know that medical conditions have eligibility for attendance allowance. If someone has a mental or physical condition preventing them from looking after themselves may require care provision to be eligible.

Conditions like : 

  • Serious injuries
  • Sensory disabilities 
  • Mental health issues 

To be selected for attendance allowance the recipient must meet all the eligibility criteria requiring this level of supervision and care for at least six months prior.

This time period can be before you reach the state pension age and there are some rules for people with terminal illness so that they can arrange payments within eight days.

You don’t need to have a receipt showing the proof of time period you have been requiring supervision or care. 

How much is attendance allowance? 

There are two types of attendance allowance rates. One for people requiring supervision and care during the day will get a lower weekly payment rate of  £60.

Another is for a person requiring both day and night care will get a high payment of £89.60 per week.

In both categories the recipient will get a £10 bonus in December. The payment is transferred every four weeks or monthly.

Application Process for attendance allowance 

If you wish to apply for attendance allowance you can do so by filling the online form at  GOV.UK   website or you can call  08007310122.

To claim the allowance you need to wait for at least 40 days before the payment starts to be made. There will be no negative affect on your benefits by claiming attendance allowance.

Attendance Allowance Pitfalls

About 58% of claims are usually rejected, therefore it is important to think about the supervision and care the recipient relies on. 

However this is also a kind of attendance allowance pitfall, there are some ways by which you can increase your chances of getting a claim accepted.

Include all the necessary information like falls, accidents the applicant might have been through. ANy activities they must have struggled to complete the unaided and frequency of support they require. In case of health conditions, or disability it would mean it is difficult to complete certain tasks safely or may require extra support in everyday tasks.

How to Avoid Them

  • Always provide complete and accurate information about the situation and disability.
  • When you do not provide the right information it can impact the decision negatively.
  • When you receive the assessment letter it means you need to clearly describe the disability of a person. In most cases it could be due to lack of potential proof.
  • In certain cases people make untruthful and unclear claims. It is important to mention all the claims accurately.

If an individual does not require support for six months then they will not be eligible for the claim. However there are specific rules apply in case a person has less than 12 months live.

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