Finance

These 56 health conditions could qualify pensioners for an extra £441 a month


Attendance Allowance is a benefit administered by the Department for Work and Pensions and offers claimants up to £441 each month depending on the severity of their situation.

It has broad eligibility criteria, with many common health conditions qualifying a person for the support.

The sum is not means tested, so what a person earns or how much they have in savings will not impact what they receive.

The payment is worth either £68.10 or £101.75 each week and is intended for those who are both:

More than 1.4 million older people were receiving additional financial support by the end of November 2022, according to latest figures from the (DWP)

Many more people may be entitled to Attendance Allowance but simply do not know enough about it to make a claim.

The benefit is paid at two different rates, and how much someone gets depends on the level of care they need.

However, it is important to note a person does not actually have to have someone caring for them in order to claim.

The most common disabling condition – an umbrella term used by the DWP – is arthritis which provides support for 410,637 people across Great Britain according to the Daily Record.

While arthritis is the most common condition being claimed for through Attendance Allowance, there are also 62,211 pensioners claiming support for back pain. Back pain, particularly lower back pain, is very common.

The 10 conditions listed below are supporting 1,051,178 of the 1.5 million total number of people receiving Attendance Allowance.

Main conditions and number of claimants across Great Britain:

  • Arthritis – 410,637
  • Dementia – 144,971
  • Heart Disease – 101,018
  • Respiratory Conditions – 84,197
  • Disease Of The Muscles, Bones or Joints – 70,926
  • Cerebrovascular Disease – 67,309
  • Back Pain – 60,639
  • Visual Disorders and Diseases – 45,138
  • Parkinson’s – 37,082
  • Neurological Conditions – 29,261

Attendance Allowance helps with extra costs if you have a physical or mental disability or illness severe enough that makes it hard for you to look after yourself – it does not cover mobility needs.

People should consider applying for Attendance Allowance if they have a disability or illness and need help or supervision throughout the day or at times during the night -even if they do not currently get that help.

This might include:

  • Help with personal care – for example getting dressed, eating or drinking, getting in and out of bed, bathing or showering and going to the toilet

  • Help to stay safe

Attendance Allowance can be claimed using the dedicated claim form to apply by post. The form will come with notes telling a person how it should be filled in. This can then be sent to Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance, and a postcode or stamp is not required.

At least 56 health conditions could mean a person qualifies for support through Attendance Allowance.

These are as follows:

  1. Arthritis
  2. Spondylosis
  3. Back Pain – Other / Precise Diagnosis not Specified
  4. Disease of The Muscles, Bones or Joints
  5. Trauma to Limbs
  6. Blindness
  7. Deafness
  8. Heart disease
  9. Chest disease
  10. Asthma
  11. Cystic Fibrosis
  12. Cerebrovascular Disease
  13. Peripheral vascular Disease
  14. Epilepsy
  15. Neurological Diseases
  16. Multiple Sclerosis
  17. Parkinson’s Disease
  18. Motor Neurone Disease
  19. Chronic Pain Syndromes
  20. Diabetes Mellitus
  21. Metabolic Disease
  22. Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
  23. Major Trauma Other than Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
  24. Learning Difficulties
  25. Psychosis
  26. Psychoneurosis
  27. Personality Disorder
  28. Dementia
  29. Behavioural Disorder
  30. Alcohol and Drug Abuse
  31. Hyperkinetic syndrome
  32. Renal Disorders
  33. Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  34. Bowel and Stomach Disease
  35. Blood Disorders
  36. Haemophilia
  37. Multi System Disorders
  38. Multiple Allergy Syndrome
  39. Skin Disease
  40. Malignant Disease
  41. Severely Mentally impaired
  42. Double Amputee
  43. Deaf/Blind
  44. Haemodialysis
  45. Frailty
  46. Total Parenteral Nutrition
  47. AIDS
  48. Infectious diseases: Viral disease – Coronavirus COVID-19
  49. Infectious diseases: Viral disease – precise diagnosis not specified
  50. Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease – Tuberculosis
  51. Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease – precise diagnosis not specified
  52. Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease – Malaria
  53. Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease – other / precise diagnosis not specified
  54. Infectious diseases – other / precise diagnosis not specified
  55. Cognitive disorder – other / precise diagnosis not specified
  56. Terminal Illness.



READ SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.