Attendance Allowance rates 2026/27: £114.60 and £76.70 a week

Attendance Allowance is £114.60 a week at the higher rate and £76.70 a week at the lower rate in 2026/27, from 6 April 2026. That is a 3.8% rise on 2025/26. It is paid to people over State Pension age who need help with personal care because of an illness or disability. It is not means-tested, it is tax-free, and you can spend it on anything, including care at home.

At a glance

• Higher rate 2026/27: £114.60 a week (about £5,960 a year), for help needed both day and night, or for someone who is terminally ill.
• Lower rate 2026/27: £76.70 a week (about £3,990 a year), for help needed during the day or at night.
• Not means-tested: savings, income and home ownership do not matter.
• Usually paid every four weeks into a bank account.
• In Scotland, new claims are for Pension Age Disability Payment instead, at the same rates.

Attendance Allowance rates by year

Rates rise each April in line with the previous September’s inflation (CPI).

Who can get it

• You are State Pension age or older.
• You need help with personal care (washing, dressing, eating, using the toilet, taking medicines) or someone to watch over you for your safety, because of a physical or mental illness or disability, including dementia.
• You have needed that help for at least six months. This does not apply if you are terminally ill.
• You live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland (Scotland has its own benefit).

What counts is the help you need, not the help you actually get. You can qualify even if you live alone and nobody helps you yet.

Higher or lower rate

What it pays for in care

At a typical self-funder rate of about £30 an hour, the higher rate pays for nearly four hours of home care a week, and the lower rate for about two and a half hours. See our guide to using Attendance Allowance for home care, and what care costs where you live in dementia care costs by region and live-in care costs by city.

Attendance Allowance and care homes

• Paying for a care home yourself: you keep Attendance Allowance.
• Council or NHS pays for the care home: it stops after 28 days.
• In hospital: it stops after 28 days and restarts when you go home.

Attendance Allowance and council charges

If the council arranges care at home, it usually counts Attendance Allowance as income when it works out what you pay. If you get the higher rate because of night needs but the council does not pay for any night care, it should ignore the difference between the higher and lower rates. Ask for this to be checked in your financial assessment.

Other help that often goes with it

• Pension Credit: getting Attendance Allowance can add a severe disability amount, or mean you qualify for the first time.
• Carer’s Allowance: a carer looking after you for 35 hours a week or more may be able to claim £86.45 a week (2026/27).
• Council Tax: you may get a discount or exemption, especially if you have dementia.

How to claim

Claim on the AA1 form from GOV.UK, or call the Attendance Allowance helpline to have one posted. Payment is backdated to the date you requested the form, if you return it within six weeks. Describe your worst days, how long tasks take and any falls or near-misses.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027
• GOV.UK: Benefit and pension rates 2024 to 2025
• The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2022
• GOV.UK: Attendance Allowance

Last checked October 2026.

Reviewed by The Care Panel team on 26 October 2026. This guide is general information about care in England, not legal, medical or financial advice. Rules and rates change; check with your council or an adviser before making decisions.