Attendance Allowance

margaretclare

Please be advised:

That the form which can be downloaded from the AA site is obsolete. There's now a new one which isn't on the directgov. site.

No one should attempt to complete the application form without help.

DH has just been to DIAL locally - he had to wait about a month to get an appointment. He spent 2 hours with the benefits adviser there and it took them that long, between them, to complete the form. He had various consultants' letters, a print-out of his medications and a letter from me. Nevertheless it took that long. He's an intelligent man but he said there is no way he'd have been able to complete the form without the help of the benefits adviser. He'd downloaded the original form and partly-completed it, but was told that form is obsolete now.

It's 50/50 whether he gets the award or not. If he gets it, it will be backdated to March. It depends entirely if 'all the right boxes' have been ticked and that means someone will take about 20 minutes to read it and make a decision yes or no.

I think he was quite surprised that he was there so long and that it's so difficult and complicated. We've both had a lifetime of writing things, filling in forms, putting our point of view forward, but this was something else.

Hope this helps someone else.

Margaret

Biggles

I'd certainly agree that you shouldn't complete this form without help.

I completed one for my mother a few years back and enlisted the help of the nurse; this was invaluable, as she had done plenty before and knew exactly what was needed.

sheilavw

Im useless with forms! However, memory clinic advised me in December to apply for attendance allowance for my mum. I sat down and completed the form, was honest on it. A guy rang me a week after to clarify a couple of points and she was awarded day and night allowance.

seven-day-weekend

So what is so difficult about it, MC? Could you clarify, so that others may be aware?

CACHAF

I completed my gran's AA form online in October last year. I listed all her medications, what had happened with her health and a brief outline of the problems she had. 8 days after submitting the form online she was awarded (and paid) AA at the full rate for day and night.

They are tricky forms at an already stressful time but they are not there to trip you up and I found them very straightforward to complete if you just sit down and focus on it. Also, you can save what your input to the online forms and come back to it later which helps.

Posts like this always worry me as I think they will put people off from applying for what they are entitled to and deserve. It is the most vulnerable group of people who qualify for AA and so a post like this saying how difficult it is and how many hours it takes to do could stop someone even trying to apply who needs the money.

Ask for the forms or look them up online and take your time with them, even over several days coming back to them if needs be (They give you a month to complete them in and still pay from the day you request them / start the online application) Also, there is a phone line that AA have which is very helpful and they can even go through the form with you over the phone and I found them no end of help.

It may not be completely simple, but it is doable and is worth it as they money makes such a difference to an elderly disabled person.

margaretclare

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

So what is so difficult about it, MC? Could you clarify, so that others may be aware?

I don't know, 7DWE, I wasn't there. I only know what DH said, when he came back from 2 hours spent doing this form with the benefits adviser at DIAL. He's well used to forms, bureaucracy of all kinds from his past career in business, but that's what he said - that he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own and the adviser told him no one should attempt it because it has become so much more difficult. I gather this has happened fairly recently, since the start of this tax year, that's probably why they haven't managed to get the new form on to the directgov website.

It certainly seems different from when I did it a few years ago now. I downloaded the form, appended consultants' letters, got DH to write a bit about what he does for me, and that was that.

I've been called a liar on here, but every time I think I feel a bit better some other darned thing comes along to hit me. Just now, suddenly in the middle of Saturday night/Sunday morning, I've been hit by some kind of vertigo. It has been just like being on a ship - feet are on the floor but the floor is moving. So yes, I still need DH to help me get out of bed and go to the loo!! As things have progressed, we need each other.

Errata

It will be interesting to see how different the new application form is from the old one. The old one was very straightforward and easy to complete providing it was done in a factual and unemotional way with supporting documentation where needed.

margaretclare

Errata wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how different the new application form is from the old one. The old one was very straightforward and easy to complete providing it was done in a factual and unemotional way with supporting documentation where needed.

Yes, that was what I did, and had no problem with it. However, the adviser did not add the supporting documentation - consultants' letters - that DH provided. She just added quotes from what the different consultants had said rather than add the sheets of paper.

zzzLazyDaisy

Just to say Age Concern will help with AA forms. They came out to my neighbours house and were very smooth and efficient. She was awarded AA with no hassle.

Errata

margaretclare wrote: »

Yes, that was what I did, and had no problem with it. However, the adviser did not add the supporting documentation - consultants' letters - that DH provided. She just added quotes from what the different consultants had said rather than add the sheets of paper.

Did she say why they wouldn't accompany the application? Seems a bit odd.

margaretclare

Errata wrote: »

Did she say why they wouldn't accompany the application? Seems a bit odd.

Again, I don't really know because I wasn't there. She didn't even add my sheet of paper detailing what I do for DH. I gather it was something like 'every application is scrutinised for 20 minutes max and if you give them too much of a bundle they just scrap it'.

DH had been to the surgery and got them to provide copies of every consultant's letter. One would have been very relevant - it was about his knee, the stiffness, the fact that 'it's as good as it will get'. Also the psoriasis in the lower leg, which may have been where the infection came from that nearly killed him, and which is still there. And then the urologist's letter about the irritable bladder and possibility of damage from the laser surgery which could result in incontinence (thankfully it hasn't!!!)

I assume that these were the 'relevant bits' that the adviser took from the letters and added to the form.

Yes, I know that AgeUK will do this for people. We also have locally something called the South Essex Older People's Advocacy. They go out to people's homes too, whereas CAB haven't the time or resources.