Attendance Allowance form

Always telephone the DWP for the AA form as it is backdated to the day you telephoned. If you apply for the form on line, payment is not commenced until it has been processed.
Get a professional to fill it Inas they know they right jargon to use. The CAB do forms as does Age UK and many other organisations.

Watched our local community centre person fill in a form for my friend who was 83. Honestly, he would never have managed it and neither would I. Do ask your community centre if you have one and can’t access Age UK. He gets £90 a week now I think, so well worth it. It was back dated too.

I completed a form for late husband. I obtained a supporting form from GP that gave details of health etc. This had to be sbmitted along with AA application form. No problem at all. I contacted AA dept by phone and requested a form.

kittylester

Please get Age UK to help you claim. They will send for the form for you. They sent out date stamped and need to be returned with in set period (I think 6 weeks)

There gave been lots of threads suggesting that it is far better to get help filling in the form.

I had a telephone appointment with Age Uk and they filled in in the form for me. When you live with a disability it’s easy to overlook everyday difficulties but their questions, sensitivity asked, brought those issues out. They kept in touch until my claim was approved and would have instigated an appeal if the claim was unsuccessful. I strongly recommend you get 3rd party support to increase your chances of a successful claim

I made the mistake of downloading the form which means it will only be dated from when I sent it in recently....

I'm lucky in having a friend who has helped me fill it in and is offering to go with me if I have to appeal. She used to work for AgeUK.

But the form is....yes, difficult!

It's important not to minimise when filling in these sort of forms (as I think many of us do) or as Nannina says not overlook difficulties because they are your everyday 'normality'. I had help filling in my sons' PIP forms (from the MAU) and needed gentle prompting as I tend to minimise and overlook things that are every day for us.

If I You go online, you can print the form off, then fill it in. But like everyone said, get help. I did it myself and was turned down. 🥲

08007310122…. They’ll send you one. Also if necessary it can be in large print!

Don't worry if you appear to be repeating yourself. They ask the same question but under different sections. It is the most confusing form so don't try to make sense of it - just answer what they have asked for.
If I remember rightly you can print the form off to fill in and then post it.

I got help from AgeUK as well, they are extremely helpful!

I applied a few years ago for my father and was rejected. I was surprised that he was rejected because he was in great need of help. A fortnight later I was checking his statement with him and found that the Attendance Allowance had been paid plus it was backdated with a healthy sum which enabled us to make alterations around the home. I recently applied for my husband who has dementia and found that if you ring up they send you a paper copy and if granted it is backdated to the date you rang the helpline. That was only a few weeks ago and yesterday we received the normal payment plus backdated sum. It is not the easiest of forms but there are guidelines.
We had no paperwork to prove his dementia because the hospital did not put it on his notes so we had to chase up someone to confirm his diagnosis. I believe we could scan the documents and sent them to another email address to have his identity confirmed. Again without a drivers licence, passport or anything with his photo on it was a difficult thing to prove identity.

KathrynP, can I ask at what point you had to prove his identity? Was it for AA or for getting the medical evidence?

When mum was alive, we had a visit from a lady about AA during the time my mum had broken her right arm in three places and I was looking after her until the cast came off. This lady said she would have to wait 6 months to which I replied "we hoped she would be better by then". This lady then said "so there's no point in applying fot it" and left. FFWD a couple of years and someone arranged for two ladies to come and speak to us. They were so helpful, they spent two hours filling in the form for mum and she eventually go AA. Of course, she needed AA in order for me to get Carers Allowance a couple of years later. It is all so demoralising, as was arranging for home carers a couple of years after that when she succumbed to Alzheimers. It's like these people think we're all qualified accountants.

I hope everyone caring for a person living with dementia and receiving AA, is also aware of the 25% reduction in Council Tax that is available.

You need to get the Council to send you the form for a reduction for someone with a Severe Mental Impairment. It only 2 pages long and needs to be counter signed by a doctor. And, the doctor cannot charge you for doing so.

So sad to see on the news about the real shortage of care workers for those who need them. The burden placed on carers, especially for a loved on with dementia is almost impossible.

I registered with Durham County Carers before applying for AA on behalf of my sister in law. They were extremely helpful and reviewed my answers via email/phone to enable me to successfully claim AA. I found it easier to provide the answers on separate sheets of paper rather than squashing them onto the paper form. I also obtained a paper copy of my sister in law’s Patient Summary and list of medication from her surgery before photocopying everything before sending it off. My sister in law receives Pension Credit, and because she lives alone and no one is claiming Carer’s Allowance she automatically qualified for Guaranteed Pension Credit. She was only awarded the money for 18 mnths (one of her illnesses is long covid) but Durham County Carers assured me that they will help again when the next review date comes round.

Maybe get someone to print it off for you. I did this for my parents some years ago and when I was certain it was all correct I filled it in on line

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I have done quite a few of these forms, but next week I am to help an elderly person who is blind. It will be by phone, and is not going to be easy!

AgeUk, Carer's Groups, CAB etc will all help you fill in these forms free.