Attendance Allowance Rates 2026/27

How much is Attendance Allowance? The 2026/27 rates

There are two rates, and no in-between amounts. Everyone who is awarded Attendance Allowance receives one or the other.

These are the figures published by the DWP on gov.uk’s Attendance Allowance rates page, current for the 2026/27 benefit year. The 4-weekly and annual columns are simply the weekly rate multiplied out, so you can see what an award is worth over time.

If you live in Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment, which has its own rates. See Attendance Allowance in Scotland (PADP).

Lower rate or higher rate: which one applies

One thing decides your rate: whether your care or supervision needs fall in the day, at night, or both.

Gov.uk describes the two rates like this, word for word:

Lower rate: “Frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night”

Higher rate: “Help or supervision throughout both day and night, or a medical professional has said you’re nearing the end of life”

So the pattern matters more than the amount of help. Someone who needs a great deal of help, but only during the day, is looking at the lower rate. Someone who needs less help overall, but needs it in the day and at night, is looking at the higher rate.

The claim form asks about the night in two separate ways: whether you have difficulty or need help during the night, and whether you usually need someone to watch over you. Both count, and people often answer no to the first while the second describes their situation exactly.

“Nearing the end of life” has a specific meaning here: a doctor or other medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live. In that situation a claim can go straight to the higher rate and the 6-month qualifying period does not apply.

There is no separate rate for any condition. Dementia, arthritis, a stroke, sight loss: the same two rates apply to everyone, set by the help you need rather than the diagnosis. If you are working out whether a particular condition fits, see conditions that commonly qualify or run the 2-minute check.

How much is that per week, per month and per year?

Attendance Allowance is set as a weekly amount and paid every 4 weeks, which is not the same as monthly. There are 13 four-weekly payments in a year, not 12, so there is no single calendar-month figure.

If you budget by calendar month, the closest estimate is the weekly rate multiplied by 52 and divided by 12:

• Lower rate: about £332 a calendar month
• Higher rate: about £497 a calendar month

Those are estimates for planning, not amounts you will see arrive. What actually lands is £306.80 or £458.40, every four weeks.

How and when is Attendance Allowance paid?

Attendance Allowance is usually paid every 4 weeks, into a bank, building society or credit union account. Gov.uk lists it among the benefits usually paid every 4 weeks.

The weekly figure is how the rate is set, not how often the money arrives. That single point clears up most of the confusion people have about the amounts.

Your payment day is set when your claim is processed and varies between claimants, so there is no universal day of the week. If a payment date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, you are usually paid on the working day before.

Gov.uk does not describe Attendance Allowance as paid in advance or in arrears, so neither do we. If you need to know exactly which period a payment covers, the DWP can confirm it against your own claim.

When payments can stop: hospital and care home stays

This is the part most people are never told, and it can affect what actually reaches your account.

Attendance Allowance can stop while you are in hospital or a care home, but not straight away, and not in every case. The rules give you the first 28 days either way. Under regulation 8 of the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) Regulations 1991, the restrictions do not apply for the first 28 days of any such period.

• Hospital stays. Attendance Allowance is usually paid for the first 28 days of NHS-funded inpatient care, and then stops. If you pay for your own care, it can continue.
• Care homes. It can continue if you pay your own fees. Gov.uk confirms you can still claim Attendance Allowance if you pay for all your care home costs yourself. If a local authority or the NHS contributes towards your accommodation, board or personal care, it normally stops after 28 days, and entitlement can restart if you leave the home.
• Nursing homes. The same applies. Self-funders can continue; payments may stop after 28 days if your care is fully NHS-funded, for example through NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Separate stays can be added together. The regulations treat two or more stays separated by a gap of 28 days or less as one continuous period. So three short admissions close together can use up the 28 days between them, even though no single stay came near it.

You must tell the DWP if you enter or leave a hospital, care home or nursing home. Reporting it promptly is not optional, and it is also what allows payments to restart when you come home.

How the rates change each April

Attendance Allowance rates are reviewed once a year and normally rise each April in line with inflation, measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The cycle is predictable: the September CPI figure sets the direction, the increase is confirmed in the autumn, and the new rates take effect the following April.

The £76.70 and £114.60 figures above took effect in April 2026 and hold for the 2026/27 benefit year. [REVIEW: add the 2025/26 comparison row and the uprating percentage once the DWP benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 document has been pulled and verified.]

You do not have to do anything to get the increase. It is applied to existing awards as well as new ones.

When your rate can change during an award

An award is not fixed for life, and the rate can move in either direction.

If your needs grow, for example from needing help only in the day to needing help at night as well, you can ask the DWP to look at your claim again and move you from the lower rate to the higher rate. That is a change worth reporting, because it is not applied on its own.

The same duty runs the other way. If your needs decrease, or your circumstances change, you must tell the DWP. A review carries a small but real chance that an award goes down as well as up, so report changes honestly and promptly rather than waiting. See how to claim and how to report a change.

Other payments that can affect the amount

Earnings, savings and pensions do not reduce Attendance Allowance, but a few other benefits do interact with it. Constant Attendance Allowance is the main one: it can be claimed alongside Attendance Allowance, but the two are not usually paid in full together. That is explained in the overlaps section of our full guide to Attendance Allowance.

Is the money worth claiming?

The weekly figure is only part of what an award is worth. A successful claim can also help unlock further support, including extra Pension Credit, help with Council Tax and help with housing costs, which for some people adds up to more than the Attendance Allowance itself. See what an Attendance Allowance award unlocks.

You can claim Attendance Allowance for free directly through gov.uk, or with free help from Age UK or Citizens Advice.

Some people would rather not deal with the form at all. That is what Kinly does: we check your eligibility, handle the paperwork, and help you present your needs properly. If that would suit you, you can let Kinly handle your Attendance Allowance claim.

Kinly is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DWP or the government.