Wondering about attendance allowance

[Inthedarkhere]

My father is 96, in pretty good health, lives alone, mum died several years ago. He's been very independent but is becoming much more frail, hardly surprising at that age! He still drives within a five mile radius of his home but feels he'll have to give that up soon. He has a blue badge, I have no idea what he wrote on the application for it. He's started using the stair lift that was installed when my mum was ill. I do his laundry and have offered to clean but he doesn't want me to do that, but says he can't afford to pay a cleaner. He's quickly coming to the stage of needing scheduled visits, maybe someone to help him in the house and possibly someone to help him get up in the morning when he says he feels "wobbly". He won't let me do his shopping, I don't get the right things, apparently..

A neighbour of his was surprised to hear he'd never claimed attendance allowance but we don't know if age and frailty are enough grounds to claim. Has anyone out there got any knowledge or experience of this?

Thanks in advance

I claimed it on behalf of my mum. As others have said, the form is a faff, but it was approved promptly.

My mum then flatly refused to pay for the care she needed - I wanted them to have a cleaner, gardener, and maybe a meal delivery service. This was my idea when getting AA. In reality, my dad looked after her and we did the cleaning, gardens and general support. They liked the additional income though, not that they spent any of it.

@DillDanding that's just madness isn't it. You must feel you might as well have not bothered.

Being 96 alone will probably do it! It won’t. You have to have a disability, it’s not given for normal ageing.

His age alone will mean he'll get something. No.

She was able to dress herself, shower etc and therefore received the lower amount. The lower amount is when daytime care is needed, the higher amount is when care overnight is needed.

Yes, infuriating. And when my mum died and the AA stopped, my dad said he missed it. They hadn’t spent a penny of it 🥴

I’m in a similar position, dad has claimed for over a year but not spent a penny of it. Infuriating.