Attendance allowance

A diagnosis is not the only consideration. A person with a diagnosis may have few problems or lots. And your DM may have problems apart from Alzheimer’s. I have successfully completed many AA claims. Here are my tips. When the forms asks about needs, think difficulties. A person might say they don’t have a need. They manage. What needs to be written in the form is exactly how they manage. Whether it is with help, with aids or by doing things differently.

Never say subjective words like sometimes, occasionally, often. They like specifics e.g. 3 times a month, taking 30 mins each time.

Don’t be brave or underplay anything. Describe in detail a bad day
Just because a person can manage, don’t disregard it e.g. getting out of bed I put 1 hand on the edge of the bed and wriggle to the edge. I then use both hands to push myself to be sitting on the side of the bed. I wait for 5 mins until pain subsides/I stop feeling dizzy/feel strong enough. Then I lean in a bedside table and push myself to a standing position. I wait until I feel strong enough to move away. From first waking up to moving away takes 10 mins.

Vulnerable is a good word. And frail. Also what are the risks to the person currently. Consider memory, do they need encouraging to take medication or food. Is there any element of self neglect. Communication could be a big problem. Can they read, understand and reply to letters/forms. Can they deal with telephone calls. Who gets their medication from the doctor.

Examples of previous problems or behaviours complete with consequences will be useful. I used to write down how the customer was answering the questions. Whether they struggled to give the answers, whether they were distressed, emotional.

Back to physical problems. You will see that all elements of personal care are covered separately. So in the toilet part, give a number of times they go to the toilet plus how they would get to and use the toilet. Any accidents. Any extra bathing. How long it would take until they were back in their chair. In fact I would remind them of the problems getting out of a chair. Getting out of a chair is key, because of how many times they do it. Describe in detail how they do it. So if they go to the toilet 10 times between getting out of bed and going to bed at night and each time takes 10 mins, they will use the total time - 100 mins towards their decision.

It will take a long time to complete the form. Good luck.

Hi OP, I’m very sorry about your mum’s diagnosis. The Alzheimer’s diagnosis and list of medication IS usually enough to qualify.

I used to process benefits (not AA) but have made successful claims for my aunt and DM and a PIP claim for someone off MN.
Feel free to pm me for any assistance, I’ll respond overnight or in the morning.

Be prepared to be upset about documenting the changes you’ve had to make already and in the future.
Take breaks if needed to compose yourself. If she didn’t need the support you wouldn’t be applying.
Also like pp said look at every task over a day from sleeping, eating, washing dressing and hygiene needs, sensing danger, mobility and any other mental health needs.

We had success with DFIL and DMIL's applications by stressing how frail and vulnerable they were. Actually used the words throughout the form. There's no harm in repeating things. And it's true, think of their worst days and how they fail to cope.

It was quite an effort to persuade them to apply, and took a full day to draft everything and a full day to fill in the paper forms. They don't trust the internet.

Fill it in on the basis of the worst days, not the best.

Don't be me. If you are filling it in as the pdf to print it when you've finished, do read (properly) the instructions about opening it and saving it in a pdf reader. It is moderately upsetting to find that your frequent saves were pointless and you have to start again from scratch.

I have no idea whether I filled it in well enough to tick the boxes for qualification so am not in a position to offer any advice other than to leave yourself plenty of time to go back and add what you've forgotten rather than banging it in the post as soon as you are done Things will occur to you when you think you've finished which is where the pdf is handy because you can just add a bit more where it needs to go.

@MereDintofPandiculation yes obviously personal care includes eating your meals, but not housework or shopping as I said.

Remember it is just to do with personal care, not shopping or housework. But personal care does include feeding yourself. So does she need to be reminded to eat? Does she eat appropriate stuff?

Thinks of all the little tweaks that you and she have made to make her life easier. These are all responses to needs. "A need that is met is still a need". Beware of thinking, eg "she doesn't need help with feeding because I cook her main meal, leave her a sandwich for tea, and make sure the breakfast things are left out on the side"

There's also the intangibles, like my father wouldn't bother to swivel the chairlift round at the top of the stairs (which had a tiny platform and exit to the side) so he was guarded from the drop down the stairs by the armrest - social workers were really on to that in terms of "not recognising danger"

Include dates whenever you can, or "between August 2020 and December 2020 she had five falls, two of which resulted in hospital admission" rather than "she often falls and hurts herself".

And don't forget the less frequent things - eg she may be able to wash herself but can she raise her arms to wash her hair? Or soap her back?

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/attendance-allowance/claiming-attendance-allowance/help-with-attendance-allowance-form/

This should help with knowing what to say.

My advice would be to not be afraid to repeat yourself! Go through everything in activities and spell out problems quite literally.
I didn't have all health professional names or details so would say attended physiotherapist's appointment at named hospital in summer 2019. I had precise details of all medicines and put down all medical issues even minor, we gave permission to contact gp.
Remember it is just to do with personal care, not shopping or housework.
Allow at least a couple of sessions to fill in form. Go back and check when you're not tired.
We got full amount for MIL and partial payment for my DM, entirely appropriate in my opinion, awarded first time.