Attendance allowance claim

Hello again. I wonder if anyone who has recently applied for attendance allowance would mind telling me how long they waited for their decision? Is there usually any sort of interim correspondence or is it just confirmation of the final outcome? I don't know why I'm getting anxious about it all again because the forms are in and what will be will be. So why am I looking out for the postman when it's been just under a week since I applied?

I certainly will. Thank you!

Well done for completing it. Hope for a good result. Do let us know.

Ah I see. It stated to use additional pages if there was more information that may be relative. There was a dedicated page within the pack but there was a lot more to note of relevance - perhaps I've over done it but I'd rather they had it. We shall see!

If it said to do it then I would add it.When I did my mums, it said “please put all relevant information on the form”

littleflo that's interesting. I would have though the more extra information the better. It did say to include extra. Anyway, with help from everyone who took the time to post, I'm pleased to say that we have finished today and the forms will be posted off in the morning so fingers crossed for me and also to those who are going through this process at the moment. Thank you all.

Cabbie21 I know but what I was trying to get across was if one could fill in one form with the strange questions one would manage the other.

Don’t send additional paperwork as it will be ignored. Your prescription list and what it is for should explain your condition.

Er yes, but there is no Mobility element for Allowance Allowance.

It is not a form to be filled in by the faint hearted. I am in the process of filling mine in but as I managed to fill in one for a Blue Badge, I know what is required.

Good post.

Part of the problem with Attendance Alllowance is its very name. This makes people assume they can only claim it if they are, or have intention of getting, someone to Attend them.

It was four years ago, that one of my daughters told me it, claim AA. I did not think I had any right to it, but downoaded the form and was dismayed at its length, The only advice I recieved was to teply to questions as at my bad times, not coping ones. I was so sure that I was not entitled to this - after all, I thought, it was for people who disabled and require constant assistance from someone else.!!! So, I scribbled my replies, and sent it off. Forgot all about it, until the reoly cam eback saing I had been awarded the Higher Amont. Added to that was extra money paid as I also had Pension Credit

This was life changing - has enabled me to mobility scooters, even a lovely small electtic wheelchair, which I can use on trains and buses. Riser/recliner chair, grab rails, trolley for taking tray from kitchen to living room, Before I moved I did use some of it for a gardener, but that is the only time this allowance has been used to pay for someone else to do anything. After I received this, I had a fall which resulted in spinal fracture, making normal things even more difficult, but = thanks to being able to purchase wonderful aids, I can live a totally normal, independent life.

I still come across people who think I am using this incorrectly and should be paying for people to 'Attend Me'. which is why I really think this needs re-naming.

Cabbie21

In my experience, AA is a bit easier to get than PIP.

Agree

sounds like you certainly do need help at night as well as day, OP.
your wrists don't get better at night do they, and getting up safely in the middle of the night to go to the loo requires added actions/takes more time than for someone with A1 wrists.
good luck.

Very sound advice here , particularly like the bit about saying always not sometimes! I had help to fill in the form in on behalf of my Mum, I was told not to pull any punches or minimize her condition, but to paint the worst scenario!! Monica has experience, please contact her for advice. Good luck.

In my experience, AA is a bit easier to get than PIP.

Citizen's Advice are wonderful at helping with these forns. They know exactly what is required.
They help me complete forms for my mother. When I was saying a certain helping action took around 10 minutes, I was told that 10 minutes wouldn't count, but 12 minutes would count.
This was several years ago.

Allow at least 4 hours to fill in the forms . Took my daughter 4 and half hours and she's used to filling in forms . They where for PIP and I was turned down . But thanks to the Brain Charity was able to go too tribunal but it took 17 months to get to tribunal only because the Brain Charity got me a solicitor.

Insist on a face to face assessment don't trust a phone or video one. Remember the people who read your forms and do the assessments have not medical training and are out sourced by DWP.

Don't tick yes to anything even if you have to lie because if you do they won't read how you do things.

I have been trying for 35 years to get disability benefits. Thanks to the Brain Charity I have got enhanced PIP for living and mobility indefinitely and they had to back date it until 7th March 2022. Plus cost of living for last year and this.

The tribunal where so kind and asked all the right questions and the judge was annoyed that the DWP was supposed to send a representative and they didn't turn up.

Cabbie gave me lots of advice. She is brilliant. And can't thank her enough for her kindness.

If there is a charity for your continued contact them as they have departments to help people with the forms . And when you post the forms back make sure you pay and have it next day delivery and signed for.

I was born disabled also have a hole in my heart I was born with and still I was treated like crap by PIP workers.

But I won in the end and they can't take it off me when I get my state pension next year. As once PIP is awarded infidelity then they can't change that decision.

"Form"? There are around 22 pages of questions to answer.

Regarding the four weeks that you have to return the Co mpleted forms, I just wanted to say that my mum was in a similar situation, running out of time before she had managed to gather all the information and get the help she needed, but it was simple enough to ask for new forms to be sent once she was ready.

I haven't read all the replies, so please forgive me if someone has already said something similar.

Starof1972 i worked for Age Concern (as was) for 10 years as a volunteer Home Advisor, my main task being to visit people to fill in AA forms.

It is not difficult but it is like dancing a minuet, you need to get the step right.

Here is a link to a very helpful site www.agespace.org/finance/funded-care/guide-to-successful-completing-attendance-allowance-forms who ake very clearly many of the points I would make

Describe the help you NEED, as well as the help you get.

Compare how you are now with what a normal person does.
I would ask people of they could get in and out of bed without a problem. 9 times out of 10 people would say 'Yes' and I would then say, 'So you jump out of bed like a 20 year old?' To which the reply would be, well I find it difficult to sit up and then I need to sit in bed for 10 minutes to get my breath back, and when I do get out of bed, I have a chair by the bed to sit on, because I am so breathless, but I do not have any difficulty getting up. (!).

Take every opportunity to constantly remind them of your needs and their cause, the more repetition the better.

If you would like to PM about anything on the form, please do.

You could add recent examples of when you tried to do something and found you needed help.
By the way, it is about personal care, not housework, shopping or gardening, but there is nothing to stop you using the money on anything you like.

I applied attendance allowance for my elderly husband and it was approved within a week. I spent 2 weeks online on and off trying to figure out how to fill the form.

He has problems with balance, so I included letter from a consultant, result of hearing tests from the hospital and any letters related to hospital admissions as medical evidence. Do not worry about the dates.

If you have problems with your wrists, then at the top of my head, you will need help with:-

Opening tinned food
Chop vegetables
Put casserole dish in the oven
Carry food and drink
Make bed
Put clothes on the line
Adjust shower control
Getting in and out of bath
Showering
Type emails and write checks
Adjust seat belt in car
Getting up and down stairs etc., etc.,

You need to spelt out the help you need to that degree in the form,

Don’t downplay your illness, don’t use the word ‘sometimes’ but use the word 'always'.

Best of luck.

Thank you all for the added pointers! Esmay can I ask whether your claim was successful when you completed the forms yourself please?
Charliegirl5 you have given me lots to consider there - really helpful.
The idea of making a draft is a good one too and it's reassuring to hear that some of you have completed the forms with success for others.

I don’t know if these forms have changed over the years but in the past I filled in these forms for my next door neighbour and my father. There was no trouble in either case but they were both in their eighties.