Pensioners missing out on £4,659 due to myths and misconceptions

Attendance Allowance: Age UK helps man claim benefit

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Attendance Allowance provides financial support for those over the state pension age and require assistance or supervision of varying degrees. The benefit could provide pensioners with much needed £4,659 annual income and purely focuses on their needs rather than their already existing income or savings.

Age UK warned many retirees could be avoiding this income due to several myths and misconceptions.

Last application was denied

As Attendance Allowance relies purely on one’s circumstances, it is possible that as one’s disability or illness progresses their eligibility will increase.

Essentially, if a person finds their care or supervision needs have increased since they last claimed they may now be eligible and Age UK urges that they try claim again. 

Income

Many Britons avoid applying or even checking the criteria for benefits as they believe they earn too much to be eligible. 

However, non means-tested benefits such as Personal Independence Payments and Attendance Allowance do not even look at one’s income. 

These types of benefits are based purely on one’s disability, condition or illness and the added costs or impact it has on their lives. 

Alongside not looking at one’s income or savings, these benefits also don’t require a certain amount of National Insurance contributions. 

Affordability

One of the biggest misconceptions of state benefits is that those who believe they can afford to fit the bill on their own do not apply for the payments they are entitled to. 

Age UK states on their website: “You’ve paid into the tax system all your life. Now it’s time to get something back. Think about what support or equipment might help you to carry on living independently at home for longer.”

No carer

Two separate myths specifically for the likes of Attendance Allowance relate to the fact that people believe that they firstly need a carer and need to spend the entire sum on that carer. 

Neither of these are true as claimants can spend the allowance on anything that helps them to stay independent such as modification to their car or home or extra equipment to assist them. 

Age UK also noted that claimants qualify based on the help that they require, not necessarily the help that they actually receive. 

Claim forms

Much like Personal Independence Payments, many fear Attendance Allowance simply due to the claim process. 

Roughly 58 percent of Attendance Allowance claims are rejected by the Department of Work and Pensions, placing much emphasis on filling out the forms correctly and in detail. 

Charities like Age UK are available to assist claimants when filling out the forms and navigating questions for benefits such as Attendance Allowance. 

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