Thousands of people with hearing problems could be missing out on an extra £430 a month from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Attendance Allowance is a benefit given to people over the state pension age who have a medical condition or disability and they need help with their day-to-day care. This benefit is paid by the DWP and is one of two disability benefits available to adults in the UK. The other is Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and this is for people of working age - so under the state pension age of 66.
Like with the disability benefit Personal Independence Payment (PIP), there is no set condition which makes you eligible for Attendance Allowance - this is because it is dependent on the care/support you need to manage day-to-day life. This can be help with getting washed and dressed, help with medical treatment, going to the toilet, help with mealtimes, or help because you get confused.
According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), around 18 million people in the UK are deaf, have learning loss or have tinnitus - this equates to around one in three adults. The charity Regain Hearing says that although hearing loss can often be prevented, treated or minimised, some conditions or issues with hearing quality are progressive or impossible to reverse.
The charity notes that hearing loss can impact your ability to drive, answer a phone call, and pop into the shop. The RNID charity says if your hearing loss impacts your daily life and your ability to communicate with other people then you may be eligible to claim Attendance Allowance. If you are eligible to claim, you can spend the money however you like as the aim of the benefit is to help people stay independent in their own homes for longer.
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You do not need a carer to claim Attendance Allowance, and you also don't even need to have a diagnosis for your condition to apply. According to the DWP, as long as you've needed help or supervision or have had difficulties for six months because of your condition, then you can claim. Attendance Allowance is also not means-tested - so what you earn or how much you have in savings will not affect what you get.
Currently, the benefit is paid in two rates - the higher rate and a lower rate - and what you are eligible for is down to how much help you need. Currently, the lower rate is worth £72.65 and the higher rate is worth £108.55 a week. If you are eligible for the higher rate for both, then you could be paid over £430 a month or £5,600 a year. The lower rate is awarded to those who need help during the day or at night whilst the higher rate is for those who need help during the day and at night, or who are terminally ill.
It should be noted that you won't be able to get Attendance Allowance if you already receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Adult Disability Payment (ADP), or the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
14 hearing conditions that are frequently considered for Attendance Allowance
- Chronic secretory otitis media
- Chronic suppurative otitis media
- Conductive hearing loss - Other causes/type not known
- Conductive hearing loss due to Trauma
- Mastoiditis
- Otitis externa - chronic
- Otosclerosis
- Deafness - congenital
- Labyrinthitis
- Menieres disease
- Presbyacusis
- Sensorineural hearing loss - Other causes/type not known
- Sensorineural hearing loss due to Trauma
- Mixed hearing loss
As mentioned earlier, as the benefit is dependent on how it affects you ability to do day to day tasks - it means a whole range of conditions and disabilities can make you eligible - if your condition is not listed here then you should still put in a claim if you think you fit the criteria.
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