Attendance allowance: reporting a change in circumstances

If you don’t report changes, you might:

• get a penalty
• have to repay any overpayments
• have your benefits stopped

If you’re unsure whether a change affects your attendance allowance, it’s best to report it anyway.

You need to contact the attendance allowance helpline if:

• the level of help you need changes
• you go into hospital or a care home
• a doctor says you may have 12 months or less to live
• you plan to leave the country for more than four weeks
• you go to prison
• your name, address or bank details change
• your doctor’s details change
• your immigration status changes

To report a change, ring the attendance allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122.

Will I still get attendance allowance if I go into hospital?

You’ll still get paid attendance allowance for your first full 28 days in hospital.

If you go back into hospital within 28 days of leaving, it counts as the same stay.

Don’t count the day you go in or leave hospital.

For example: 

Jane goes into hospital on 10 April and comes home on 25 April, meaning she has spent 14 full days in hospital (you don’t count the day you go in or the day you leave).

She is home until 4 May (10 days) before returning to hospital for 21 days (going home on 26 May).

Because Jane went back into hospital after less than 28 days, her stay will be classed as 35 days.

As soon as she reaches day 28 in hospital, her attendance allowance payments will stop. They will start again on the day she gets out.

If Jane goes back into hospital again within 28 days of 26 May, her attendance allowance payments will stop immediately and restart when she leaves.

But if Jane goes back into hospital six months later, her attendance allowance payments will continue until she reaches the 28-day mark.

Will I still get attendance allowance if I go into a care home?

You can still get attendance allowance if you're paying the fees yourself.

You won’t usually be eligible for attendance allowance if your local authority funds your care.

Will I still get attendance allowance if I go into hospice?

If you’re terminally ill and living in a hospice, your payments will usually continue. For more information, ring the attendance allowance helpline.