Attendance Allowance for mobility issues/arthritis

[orangetree1999]

Hi
I was looking at applying for this for my mum but have seen some notes on different websites that say it's not available for people with mobility issues.
She's 86 with arthritis riddled knees. She is eligible for knee replacements but doesn't want them.
We have paid privately for a stair lift and a walk in shower as she wasn't able to get into the bath and struggles with stairs.
She has a blue badge but is restricted to where she can go as can't walk far even if she gets a parking space.
She's fallen a couple of times because if she slips there is no strength in her knees to save herself.
Does anyone know if she would be eligible please?
Without the adaptations we have made she would need help going upstairs to get to the loo and getting in and out of the bath.
We would use attendance allowance for a cleaner and for taxis but these don't seem to count as they are not 'personal care'.
Thanks.

She is eligible for attendance allowance just apply.
The mobility thing is that she isn't eligible for mobility allowance which is a different benefit.
The form is long but be honest and explain the difficulties. My mum is very similar and gets attendance allowance.

I’ve literally just come from a meeting with a benefits advisor for my dad where we’ve just applied for this. Mobility is a separate thing from attendance allowance but it does seem to be pretty easy to be granted it. It didn’t take us long to fill in the initial form (5, 6 mins?) though they may need further docs from doctors later on.

If she doesn’t need help with personal care then, according to the Versusarthritis website, no. However, does she need your care? Do you come and cook meals, make cups of tea, pick up prescription etc?
If you contact Ageuk they have people who can come and fill the for,s in with you, they are very good at knowing what to put.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/media/23160/attendance-allowance-factsheet.pdf

Day time: you need help with personal care frequently throughout the day (during the middle of the day, as well as in the morning and evening) or you need continual supervision to avoid substantial danger to yourself or others (for example, if you are prone to falling).

• Night time: you need prolonged or repeated help with personal care; or you need someone to be awake at night for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals to watch over you to avoid substantial danger.
Normally, you only get Attendance Allowance if you have needed help for at least six months.
Can I qualify for Attendance Allowance?

Thanks for the replies.
She manages but slowly and with pain in her knees.
She wouldn't manage without the adaptations.
I might apply and see what they say.

My mum had the lower rate Attendance Allowance because of arthritis. She had been dependent on a wheelchair outside the home for about 10 years before that before I applied.

The form is long, took me 10 hrs to fill it out properly for my mum. Send photo copies of hospital notes/prescriptions etc. Go into a lot of details even though they give you a tiny box to write in - just attach an extra page. The form was as thick as the Bible by the time I'd finished.

And another thing I read on here which really helped - complete the form from the point of view of her worst days, not her best. My mum was always trying to say that she could do x/y/z when it caused terrible pain and she would have to sit down half way through because she would feel faint.

Please apply. Your local council may have a team that helps people to complete the forms & apply for other financial support so worth a call to them as there may be other things she is entitled to

Definitely this, absolute worst day.

Watching this with interest as my mum is 89 with a stent in her heart and can't carry things so can't do shopping etc., takes ages to walk anywhere, but is still able to dress herself so guidance implies she's not eligible, even though if she were 30 years younger with this level of disability she'd be eligible for PIP.

I'm really baffled by benefits, how can you get PIP when you're 59 but with the same disability at 89 not be eligible for anything?

Let us know how you get on OP.

i used to complete these as part of my job. I would advise getting some help from your local Age UK or citizens advice to complete it even if just to read it over

there's definitely a technique!

tjos is why it’s good to get help :)

so with the dressing thing, what you need to do is break it down & explain how long it takes and how she’s impeded by health problems eg does she have arthritic fingers that make fastening clothes hard? Has she changed what she wears to cope with that? Does she have stiff shoulders or limited ar movement which makes getting clothes on a struggle? Can she bend down easily to pull on underwear or socks or tights or is that a real struggle which means she has to spend a few minutes recovering?

its not as straightforward as whether she can or cannot get dressed

your mum should apply. Most local councils have teams that can support people to apply & claim other benefits they may be entitled to.

Thanks everyone. Will have a chat with her. She would be reluctant to attend any kind of assessment so that might be a problem - she would rather just muddle along.
Will update although I expect if we do apply it will take a while to get a decision.

No one from DWP will come out and assess her. When I worked for a charity that did AA forms, we’d just go & visit the person and go through the questions with them. We’d ask them to just describe how they managed certain tasks on a daily basis - a few simple questions usually gives what you need

then the form is sent in and a decision made

I have completed a few of these successfully.

You need evidence of a medical diagnosis but the most important thing is to thoroughly answer the question asked, and not get carried away talking about diagnoses or how upsetting it is.

So if it asks how far can you walk - you say exactly how far, exactly how often, how long she needs to rest afterwards, exactly what help she needs, don't let her say 'I can walk to the shops' if the last time she did that was 6 months ago. Basically masses of detail on every single step of the activity.

My DM just got awarded it, no assessment. A few months later I had another crack at it and got her higher rate.

You don’t get the mobility element for AA as it’s expected that most people after a certain age will have mobility type issues just like children before age 3 in most cases don’t get awarded mobility element. I would deffo still apply for the care element and like previous posters have recommended, get help with the form as there is a knack to it. Good luck!

Although I’m retired I’m still filling in forms to help people get AA. Mobility within the home is relevant i.e. getting out of a chair, walking around the house, going up and down stairs. Go for it.

And to add to this...

Do not, do not, do not EVER fill out the form thinking that the money HAS to be used for whatever you put down on the form, or that you HAVE to implement the support which you say on the form is needed. The AA is for whatever you need it for.

When my MIL required AA some years ago, my husband filled all the forms in. MIL was then refused.

We applied again, only this time I went through the forms with him, asking what he'd put down as answers. He was very, very vague about what her situation was, because he kept falling into the trap of thinking the answer had to align with a care plan we were putting in place.

Example: question read along lines of "is the applicant able to sleep through the night alone". I put "no". He said "but we won't be able to pay for a carer to do that". And I with every single question I had to remind him over & over again that the question was asking what his mother could and could not do, and NOT "will you be paying someone to do this for her from the AA?". Rinse & repeat.

So, answer the questions accurately, based on their worst day, and don't ever stop to think about what you'll use the AA for, as it's disposal is not linked to your answers.

Another point - the AA is tax-free to the recipient, however, it is NOT tax free to whoever you give it to. That's not a problem if you are paying for goods in a shop, or a cleaner or gardener or carer who produces a receipt; tax is their problem. But as the government websites etc. say (or at least used to say) that AA can be given to a family member or neighbour etc. in exchange for their help, that person should really be declaring it to HMRC and needs to know so.

I am not saying this to be some sort of pedantic busy-body, I'm saying it because the department who issues AA had no understanding of the tax situation when I queried it back in the day when my MIL was awarded it. The last thing anyone wants is to inadvertently drop a 3rd party in the manure, but conversely, if you tell them about the potential tax implications, it's up to them what they do about it.

Final point - you are obliged to return the forms on time. We didn't, and when this happens you have to explain why. I explained that we were so busy looking after MIL that we didn't have the time to do the forms by the deadline.

For some reason, they wrote to us asking why the forms were late. I wrote back stating that as explained already, we were so busy looking after MIL that we didn't have the time to do the forms by the deadline. My MIL got the higher AA without a problem, and to this day I do not know if being asked to explain twice why the forms were late was because someone didn't read the explanation the first time, or if it was a test to try and trip us up. Just be consistent all the way, that's my advice.

My mum got it for arthritis & mobility problems.

Am joining because i am just about to claim AA for my father who has spinal stenosis and his mobility is making him pretty much house bound.

Any tips are very gratefully received

@IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls Imagine you are doing your GCSEs. Remember being told over and over to read the paper and answer the question?

Well it's like that.

There are some helpful guides on line about what an answer should look like. But basically 'I need help washing and dressing. I can't lift my arms so need someone to wash my back , hair and under my arms. I need someone with my when I shower so i don't fall as i walk with a frame. I also need help to put my arms into sleeves. I can't do up buttons.'

This is a much better answer than 'My daughter helps me but I can do half by myself '

Thanks again for all the detailed advice. We are going to make a start on the form tomorrow.

It's definitely for mobility and arthritis. My mum has that and she gets it. She does have other stuff too but the arthritis is what affects her mobility. She'll almost certainly get it so apply Asap.

one of the nurses at my mum’s gp surgery suggested we apply and she filled out the form with me. She also emphasised describing the worst days. My mum didn’t need any help with personal care and was awarded the lower amount without an assessment.