Attendance Allowance
Attendance Allowance, usually shortened to AA, is a tax-free weekly benefit for people at or over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a health condition. Mesothelioma routes you onto a fast-track version through the SR1 form (chapter 6.2), which removes the assessment process most claimants find slow and intrusive.
What you get under Special Rules. The higher rateof Attendance Allowance is paid automatically. There is no face-to-face assessment, no six-month qualifying period — the payment runs from the date of the claim. Unlike PIP, Attendance Allowance has no mobility component; AA simply does not include mobility help, and the SR1 doesn’t change that.
State Pension age. Attendance Allowance is for people at or over State Pension age. If you are under State Pension age, the equivalent benefit is PIP (chapter 6.3). If you are claiming for a partner who is over State Pension age but you yourself are not, the partner is the AA claimant.
How to claim.
- In Great Britain, ring the Attendance Allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122(textphone 0800 731 0317; Relay UK 18001 then 0800 731 0122). In Northern Ireland, AA is run by the Department for Communities’ Disability and Carers Service on 0800 587 0912. Ask for a claim form.
- Tell the operator on the very first call that the claim is under Special Rules for End of Life. The Attendance Allowance claim form will follow in the post; the Special Rules sections are short.
- Decisions are usually quick once the SR1 from your clinician has reached the DWP.
What it’s worth. AA rates change each April, so check GOV.UK. The current higher-rate figure is on gov.uk, dated and authoritative.
What it doesn’t affect.Attendance Allowance isn’t means-tested and doesn’t depend on National Insurance contributions. It doesn’t count as income for most other benefits, and receiving it can lead to extra amounts: Pension Credit guarantee credit may go up; the severe disability premium in older benefits may apply; council tax reductions and housing-cost help often become available. One caveat: if a family member claims Carer’s Allowance for looking after you, that can remove the severe disability addition from some household benefits. Tell your local benefits adviser the AA award has come through so the rest of the household’s entitlement can be recalculated properly.
If you live in Scotland. The Scottish equivalent of AA is Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP), administered by Social Security Scotland. PADP was piloted from 21 October 2024 and opened nationally from 22 April 2025. It uses the BASRiS fast-track route described in chapter 6.2 rather than the DWP SR1. The Scottish case-transfer programme moving AA recipients to PADP began in February 2025 and was treated as complete by early 2026. If you somehow still have an open AA record in Scotland, ring Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222. Chapter 6.13 has the devolved detail.
One common confusion. AA and the IIDB Constant Attendance Allowance (chapter 6.5) sound nearly identical but aren’t the same thing, and they don’t simply stack. IIDB’s Constant Attendance Allowance is paid where IIDB recipients need someone with them daily. Where it is paid alongside AA (or PIP, or DLA), the other benefit is normally reduced — in practice you tend to get the higher of the two figures plus a top-up, not both at full rate. Your benefits adviser will sort out the interaction so the household ends up with the correct total; you don’t need to work this out yourself.