State Pension: Britons could claim extra £356 each month for arthritis or other conditions

Martin Lewis reveals who is eligible for Attendance Allowance

State Pension payments can provide significant help to people when they leave the workforce for retirement. The sum, overseen by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is issued to eligible Britons who have reached a certain age and have specific numbers of National Insurance contributions. The government states, however, it is vital to understand some may receive less than the full state pension sum if contracted out before April 6, 2016.

But many people who have reached state pension age may be entitled to receive Attendance Allowance, designed to help with certain health conditions.

Attendance Allowance is intended to help people with extra costs if they have a disability severe enough that they need someone to help look after them.

But Britons do not have to have someone caring for them in order to claim, and so the payment could provide important assistance.

The payment is tax-free and non-means tested, available to those who have reached state pension age.

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Many could therefore be able to receive the payment if they suffer with conditions such as arthritis. 

The organisation Versus Arthritis has provided further insight into who will be able to claim this sum.

Its guide reads: “What matters with Attendance Allowance is how much your arthritis and any other condition you may have affects you.

“It is based on the help you need – not the help you actually get.

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“It doesn’t matter if you receive a lot of help or support, or very little. It is up to you how you spend the allowance.”

Attendance Allowance is paid on a weekly basis at two different rates, with the amount a person receives dependent on their circumstances.

The lower rate of Attendance Allowance is set at £59.70 per week, for those who need frequent help or constant supervision in the daytime, or supervision at night.

Alternatively, there is a higher rate of the allowance which is set at £89.15 per week.

This is for those who need help or supervision throughout both day and night, or people who are terminally ill.

As a result, those who are on the higher rate of Attendance Allowance could receive over £356 to assist with their day-to-day needs.

To be eligible, usually a person will have needed to have required help for at least six months.

They must have a physical or sensory disability, a mental disability or both to be able to claim.

They must also be in Great Britain when they make the claim, and ‘habitually resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Ireland.

People can apply to claim Attendance Allowance via post, and download the claim form on the government’s official website. 

Attendance Allowance is paid into a bank, building society or credit union account of a person’s specification.

It can be backdated to the date a person makes the claim, which is usually the date a form is received, or the date the enquiry line is called if the claim pack is then returned within six weeks. 

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