Attendance Allowance: Help With Care Costs

Attendance Allowance is a benefit that helps with the extra costs of a disability or health condition severe enough that you need someone to help look after you, once you have reached State Pension age (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change).

It is paid at one of two weekly rates and is not means-tested, so what you earn or hold in savings does not affect it. This guide sets out the rates, who can claim, how it works alongside paying for care, and how to apply. It sits within our wider estate planning guide for families thinking about later life. Figures are current as at July 2026 and are subject to change.

What is Attendance Allowance?

Attendance Allowance is a tax-free benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental health condition. You do not need to already have a carer to claim, and you do not have to spend it on care (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). It is meant to help with the added costs of daily living rather than mobility needs specifically.

The two rates of Attendance Allowance

There are two weekly rates, and which one applies depends on how much help or supervision you need. The lower rate of £76.70 a week is for frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night. The higher rate of £114.60 a week is for help or supervision throughout both day and night, or where a medical professional has said you are nearing the end of life (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Source: gov.uk, what you'll get, as at July 2026 and subject to change. The allowance is usually paid every week into a bank, building society or credit union account.

Who qualifies for Attendance Allowance?

To claim, you generally need to be State Pension age or older, have a physical or mental disability or health condition, and have needed help with personal care or supervision for at least six months. The six-month rule does not apply if you are terminally ill, in which case you can claim straight away and at the higher rate (gov.uk, eligibility, as at July 2026, subject to change). You must also usually be in Great Britain and satisfy residence conditions.

• Age. You must have reached State Pension age.
• Care need. A condition severe enough that you need help or supervision looking after yourself.
• Duration. The need must generally have lasted at least six months, unless you are terminally ill.
• Existing benefits. You cannot usually get it alongside certain benefits such as PIP or Disability Living Allowance (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Attendance Allowance and care home fees

Where you live matters. You cannot usually get Attendance Allowance if you live in a care home and your care is paid for by your local authority. If you pay all of your own care home costs, you can normally still claim it (gov.uk, eligibility, as at July 2026, subject to change). For self-funders, that weekly amount can make a modest contribution towards the cost of care.

Attendance Allowance is separate from how care is funded and assessed. The local authority decides what care you need through a care needs assessment, then looks at your finances, and the benefit itself is not a way to meet the full cost of a placement. For the wider picture on paying for a placement, see our guide to Care Home Fees.

Where Attendance Allowance fits in later-life planning

Attendance Allowance is one small piece of a wider later-life picture that can include care fees planning, a lasting power of attorney and a will. Because it is not means-tested, it sits alongside the local-authority care means test rather than replacing it, and many people find it useful to look at both together. On the care-fees side, it is worth being aware that local authorities apply deprivation of assets rules, and deliberately giving away money or property to reduce a future care assessment can be challenged, so mitigating the impact of care fees is best approached with proper advice rather than informal transfers.

Attendance Allowance in Scotland and Northern Ireland

The rules differ across the UK. In Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced for new claims by Pension Age Disability Payment, which you apply for instead (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). Northern Ireland runs its own but broadly similar Attendance Allowance through nidirect. This guide describes the position for England and Wales, and where an arrangement touches more than one UK nation it can be worth checking the local rules. For the wider planning picture, see our estate planning guide.

Frequently asked questions