Attendance Allowance Experience

ShirleyW
ShirleyW Community member Posts: 353 Empowering
in PIP, DLA, and AA
Hello everyone.  I recently joined the forum to find out information about Attendance Allowance and how long claims were taking.

There are very few threads about Attendance Allowance and I thought that my experience might help people looking for information as I was.  

I rang the AA helpline on the 24th January 2022.  Whilst I was waiting for the claim pack to arrive I decided to complete the Online Form which can be downloaded.  The form is interactive and you can type and save it as you go on your laptop or computer.  

I sent the form off in the post on the 31st January 2022 and I received my decision on the 8th March 2022.  My claim was successful and the first amount of money was actually in my bank on the previous Friday 4th March 2022.  I did not have to have an assessment but apparently they are not usually required for Attendance Allowance.

Using my computer to complete it made it much easier for me.  I have great difficulty writing and holding a pen these days because of osteoarthritis in my hands, wrists and shoulders.  

The form took me about a week to complete, I did it in short bursts two or three times a day.  It's very long about 30 pages with about 50 questions.  I also typed extra pages where the boxes were not big enough to contain the information I needed to put in them.  If you add extra pages be sure to put your full name and National Insurance Number at the top and detail which question you are answering.

I attached three short medical evidence letters from my consultants which confirmed the different joints I have osteoarthritis in and which surgeries I had undertaken.

I printed off the saved form and posted it off to the relevant address.  Make sure you have enough ink and paper in your printer if doing it this way.  The claim pack had arrived by this stage but I didn't use it because writing is so difficult for me.

I had been quite worried that it might take many months for a decision to be made as that seems to be the case with PIP claims and assessments.  I was quite surprised to find that it was all sorted out in just over a month.  Such a pity that PIP assessments are so much more stressful and that the waiting for them is so long.




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Comments

  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,005 Championing
    That's a helpful post Shirley. I would add the following information.

    If you download and print the form to send back then the claim start date will be the date the form is received by DWP.

    If you ring and order the form it will arrive with two date stamps on it. The first stamp is the date of the phone call, the second date (which will be six weeks later) is the return date. Provided the form is returned by the return date the claim start date will be the date of the telephone call.

  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    Thanks so much for starting this thread @ShirleyW it will be so helpful for our members I'm sure.

    I'm glad your attendance allowance was all sorted so quickly and efficiently :)

    You're always welcome join in other discussions on the forum, and if you ever do need a hand with anything, let us know.

    Alex
  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Community member Posts: 353 Empowering
    @calcotti yes thank you for that comment.  I should have thought to add that myself.

    The dates on the claim form I received in the post were  25th Jan 2022 for receiving the telephone claim.
    And 8th March 2022 to get the form back by - so 6 weeks to complete by hand and post it back.

    My own claim was awarded from the 1st February, which was the day after I posted it back the computer printout, so no delays in the postal system.

    For myself I was willing to sacrifice a few days on my claim in order to have a form I could complete on my computer.  Hand writing it was not an option for me at all although I suppose I could have dictated it to someone else to write for me.  I didn't really want to do that though.

    @Alex_Scope thank you for your comments.

    All in all I am very pleased with how my Attendance Allowance claim was dealt with and the time frame involved.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,005 Championing
    You were obviously very efficient at getting on and doing your form. Some people do take several weeks over it - particularly if they want to discuss to with family members. I've never done it but I think if you downloaded and printed out a form but then wrapped it in one you had received in the post you could benefit from the dates on the issued form. 
  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Community member Posts: 353 Empowering
    @calcotti I had been thinking about the claim for several months before taking the plunge.  I'd read everything I could find about what the criteria were and had a good idea of what areas I would qualify.  Once I started the form the words just seemed to flow although such a lot of it was repeating things already said.   

    That's extremely interesting about including the claim form received in the post with the printed out one.  I never thought of doing that!  That's a good tip for anyone else reading this thread.  Thank you.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,005 Championing
    ShirleyW said:
    That's extremely interesting about including the claim form received in the post with the printed out one.  I never thought of doing that!  That's a good tip for anyone else reading this thread.  Thank you.
    As I said, I've never tried it but I don't see why it couldn't work (logically all you really need to include is the stamped front page stapled to the rest of the form).
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Can anyone tell me how long attendance allowance decisions are taking at the moment please, thankyou
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,054 Championing
    Maggie1953 said:
    Can anyone tell me how long attendance allowance decisions are taking at the moment please, thankyou

    Anything up to around about 12 weeks.
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Thankyou 
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,443 Championing
    I hope you're not waiting too long @maggie1953 :) How have you found the process so far?
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    I thought the form was a little difficult, but did as much as I could, hoping the outcome is ok. I will be back to let you know
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,925 Championing
    It sounds positive that you did as much as you could @Maggie1953. Not least because you thought the form was a little difficult.

    Good luck with the outcome. If we can support you in the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are all here for you  :)
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Thankyou so much 😊
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,925 Championing
    You are welcome @Maggie1953. It is the very least you deserve.

    How are you today? I hope you are well but if you need anything we are all here for you  :)
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Not too bad today, it is nice to know there is someone who can help if needed, have a nice day 😊
  • Sue_Alumni
    Sue_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 484 Empowering
    Thank you so much for posting @ShirleyW about your claim for Attendance Allowance.  It is great when members share their positive stories as they really do help others.

    @Maggie1953 I do hope you have a decision soon and please keep us posted. 
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    Hi, Thankyou for the positive words. I received my award letter for Attendance Allowance this morning. I applied on the 12/7/22 and decision was made 6/9/22. I have received higher rate. What I do not understand is that nowhere on the letter does it state a fixed period in time, just from 12/7/22 and no end date. Rather confused by this, if anyone can tell me why x
  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Community member Posts: 353 Empowering
    My award is the same, no end date.  I rang the AA people and was told it's an indefinite award.
  • Maggie1953
    Maggie1953 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
    thanks so much Shirley, this is very reassuring. Hope everyone has a good day 😊
  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Community member Posts: 353 Empowering
    You're welcome.   Glad it all went well for you.  

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