Can you get Attendance Allowance if you live in a care home?

Moving into a care home does not automatically end Attendance Allowance — the deciding factor is who is paying for your care.

Self-funders keep it; publicly funded residents lose it

If you are self-funding — paying all of your care home fees from your own income and savings — you remain entitled to Attendance Allowance. That is worth £76.70 a week at the lower rate or £114.60 at the higher rate (2026/27), paid every four weeks, tax-free, and it is not means-tested, so your savings and pension do not affect it.

If your local council, the NHS or another public body funds your place, you cannot keep Attendance Allowance beyond your first 28 days in the home. The logic is that the public purse is already meeting your care needs. Always tell the DWP when you move into residential care so your position can be checked — continuing to receive payments you are not entitled to creates an overpayment you will have to repay.

The 28 days are counted from when the funded stay begins, and separate stays can be linked, so get advice if you move between hospital, respite and residential care.

Points worth checking before and after the move

• If a claim has not yet been made, it is still worth applying — the test is your need for help with personal care or supervision, not whether you currently receive it, and you must normally have needed that help for six months (waived under the Special Rules if you are terminally ill).
• Attendance Allowance can increase other entitlements: it can trigger the severe disability addition in Pension Credit, worth £86.05 a week (2026/27), and help with Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction while you are still at home.
• If a relative with dementia is moving into care, they can still qualify — supervision to avoid danger counts even where no physical help with washing or dressing is needed, and a family member can help complete the form.

Age UK and Citizens Advice offer free help with the AA1 claim form and with checking how a move into care affects the rest of your benefits.