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Attendance allowance. Is 8 weeks for a decision normal?

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Queencrescent
Queencrescent Community member Posts: 1 Listener
edited August 2022 in PIP, DLA, and AA
Hello, my name Queenscrescent, I would be interested to learn of members experience re applying for attendance allowance. It took me months to decide before I applied  I did apply, end of June  I received message to say  8 weeks to make a decision? Is this the normal?
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  • bg844
    bg844 Community member Posts: 3,887 Disability Gamechanger
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    That is normal. Attendance Allowance are known for making quick decisions but the odd few cases may take longer, this is nothing to worry about.
    If successful all arrears will be payed from when you phoned to claim (or when they received the form you printed off). Hopefully not too long now.

    Good Luck.
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 55,280 Disability Gamechanger
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    Around 12 weeks is fairly normal. AA is usually quite straight forward to claim and you don't usually need an assessment.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • Sue_Alumni
    Sue_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 486 Pioneering
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    Good morning @Queencrescent and welcome to the online community  :).

    I see that poppy and bg844 have already helped you with your enquiry. If there is any thing else you would like to ask - whether it is about AA or anything else please feel free to get in touch and we will help in any way we can.  Do have a look around the online forum. There is a lot going on with various discussions you may be interested in and some friendly chat and games the coffee lounge.

    If, when you hear back from the DWP, if the decision is not what you hoped for, you can ask for the decision to be looked at again by asking for a mandatory reconsideration.

    That said I do hope you have a successful outcome. Let us know how you get on. 


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  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Community member Posts: 355 Pioneering
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    Queencrescent said:
    Hello, my name Queenscrescent, I would be interested to learn of members experience re applying for attendance allowance. It took me months to decide before I applied  I did apply, end of June  I received message to say  8 weeks to make a decision? Is this the normal?
    This is my experience of claiming for Attendance Allowance:

    I rang the AA helpline on the 24th January 2022.  

    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.

    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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  • Ourbillieboy2
    Ourbillieboy2 Scope Member Posts: 10 Listener
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    I’ve called attendance allowance so many times I was told again on Friday it will be 8weeks on the first of December so call then but I feel that they already know and I’m going to get a letter of refusal can this happen ? Do you think they already know and they are not telling me on the phone?
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  • bg844
    bg844 Community member Posts: 3,887 Disability Gamechanger
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    Ourbillieboy2 said:
    I’ve called attendance allowance so many times I was told again on Friday it will be 8weeks on the first of December so call then but I feel that they already know and I’m going to get a letter of refusal can this happen ? Do you think they already know and they are not telling me on the phone?
    No. Attendance Allowance are extremely busy with claims, you will be in a queue. I know it’s quite annoying and I do feel for you but unfortunately all there is to do now is wait.
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 55,280 Disability Gamechanger
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    Ourbillieboy2 said:
    I’ve called attendance allowance so many times I was told again on Friday it will be 8weeks on the first of December so call then but I feel that they already know and I’m going to get a letter of refusal can this happen ? Do you think they already know and they are not telling me on the phone?

    Around 12 weeks, sometimes longer for a AA claim. Nothing more you can do but wait.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • Ourbillieboy2
    Ourbillieboy2 Scope Member Posts: 10 Listener
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    Hi there, does anyone know if Attendance Allowance it’s allowed to contact your GP for medical records as I thought this was strictly confidential as my family are not allowed to to get access 
    I really don’t mind if they do as I have nothing to hide, but I really thought it was confidential
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2022
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    When you complete the claim form you are asked whether or not you authorise DWP to contact your GP or not (question 18). If you authorise it they can, if you don’t they can’t. 
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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