How to fill in form AA1 — claiming Attendance Allowance
Form AA1 is how someone who has reached State Pension age, and needs help with personal care because of a disability or illness, claims Attendance Allowance from DWP — a benefit that isn't means-tested and isn't reduced by savings or income.
A family member can fill the form in on the claimant's behalf, but signing it is narrower: only a benefit appointee, a Court of Protection deputy, or someone holding a registered Property and Finance LPA can sign for the claimant — a Health and Welfare LPA does not qualify.
This walkthrough covers the special rules for terminal illness, the 6-month qualifying period, the 6-week backdating trap after phoning for a pack, the day-and-night care-needs tables that make up most of the form, and what to send — and not send — as supporting evidence.
✓ Official source checked 23 August 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 20 February 2026AA1 on GOV.UK ↗
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United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Official source: GOV.UK
✓Official form · always current
This is the same official AA1 file Department for Work and Pensions publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.
The button gives you Attendance Allowance claim form (AA1).
Current version: November 2025 · confirmed on GOV.UK 23 August 2026
This walkthrough takes AA1 field by field, in plain English. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested and isn't affected by savings, but the form's own signing rule catches families out constantly: a Health and Welfare LPA does not let an attorney sign it — only a Property and Finance one does.
The thing most people get wrong
A Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney does NOT authorise the attorney to sign this claim on the claimant's behalf — only a benefit appointee, a Court of Protection deputy, or a registered PROPERTY AND FINANCE LPA qualifies.
A family member can still fill the form in without one of those, but the claimant must then sign the declaration personally — missing this at the end, after completing 32 pages, is an easy way to lose weeks waiting for a form to be re-signed and re-sent.
The form, in summary
Valoren
AA1·32 pages·65 fields guided
With Valoren40 minutes
Without Valoren2–3 hours
working through the day and night care-needs tables, and gathering GP, consultant and medication detail
Deadline
6 monthsof needing care before AA can be paid
Who Files
The claimantor someone with proper signing authority
£
Fee
Freeto claim — no charge either way
Filed with DWP — Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance (no stamp needed)
AA1 is titled, on its own cover, 'Attendance Allowance for people of State Pension age or over' — DWP's publication page calls it the 'Attendance Allowance claim form'.
Attendance Allowance itself is not means-tested and not affected by savings or income: it exists to help with the extra cost of needing personal care because of a disability or illness, whether or not anyone is actually providing that care yet.
The form allows a family member to fill it in on the claimant's behalf, but who may SIGN it is narrower than who may fill it in — see the signing-authority section below.
·Who Files — The claimant themselves — a living person who has reached State Pension age — or a family member filling the form in on their behalf. Filling it in and signing it are treated differently: unless the person completing the form is a DWP-appointed benefit appointee, a Court of Protection deputy, or holds a registered PROPERTY AND FINANCE Lasting Power of Attorney (or, in Scotland, is a tutor, curator bonis or judicial factor, or is a corporate acting body), the claimant must sign the declaration personally. A Health and Welfare LPA does not qualify for this — a genuine trap for a family member managing a parent's affairs.
·32 pages · 65 fields guided
·Draws from your Estate File — Medical Abstract, People, Authority & Contacts, Financial Accounts
Section01
§11
Section 1
Before you start — the special rules gate, and who can sign
AA1 opens with two gates that shape everything after them: whether the special rules for terminal illness apply, and who is actually allowed to sign the declaration at the end.
01
Who this form is for
AA1 is titled 'Attendance Allowance for people of State Pension age or over' — it's the claim form for someone who has reached State Pension age and needs help with personal care because of a disability or illness.
02
The special rules — Q01
Answer 'yes' here if the claimant is terminally ill — not expected to live longer than 12 months.
A 'yes' waives the 6-month qualifying period entirely, and the form tells you to skip straight past the whole day-and-night care-needs section to Q47.
An SR1 form from the GP or specialist can support the claim and can be sent directly by them — but don't wait for it. Send the AA1 anyway; DWP says a missing SR1 shouldn't delay the claim.
03
Signing on the claimant's behalf — Q15
Someone else can fill the form in, but signing it is a separate, narrower question. Only a DWP-appointed benefit appointee, a Court of Protection deputy, or a registered PROPERTY AND FINANCE Lasting Power of Attorney (in Scotland: a tutor, curator bonis or judicial factor, or a corporate acting body) can sign for the claimant.
A Health and Welfare LPA is not on that list. If none of those roles apply, the claimant signs personally, however much help they had completing the rest of the form.
04
The 6-month qualifying period
Outside the special rules, the claimant must normally have needed help with personal care for at least 6 months before Attendance Allowance can be paid.
This is why the start date given later at Q28 matters — it's the date this 6-month clock is measured from.
AA1 opens with two gates that shape everything after them: whether the special rules for terminal illness apply, and who is actually allowed to sign the declaration at the end.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Section02
§22
Section 2
About the claimant, and how the claim itself starts — Qs02–14
A straightforward biographical run, followed by a set of residence and other-benefit questions that decide whether anything overseas needs declaring.
01
Personal details
Name, National Insurance number, date of birth, sex, permanent address, contact numbers, and nationality — including a question about EEA or Swiss residence before 2021.
02
Residence and other benefits
Whether the claimant normally lives in Great Britain; any time spent abroad over 4 weeks in the last 3 years, with dates and reason; any EEA or Swiss pension or benefit already being paid; any insurance paid while working in an EEA state or Switzerland; a move from Scotland to England or Wales; and whether Pension Age Disability Payment — the Scottish equivalent of Attendance Allowance — is already being claimed or paid.
03
How the claim was started affects the start date
Phoning the AA helpline (0800 731 0122) for a claim pack backdates the start date to the date of that call — but only if the completed form is returned within 6 weeks. Miss that window and the weeks in between are lost; they aren't restored later.
Posting the form without phoning first starts the claim from whenever DWP actually receives it. Gov.uk also describes a start-date rule for claiming online — check the current guidance for which routes are open when you claim.
A straightforward biographical run, followed by a set of residence and other-benefit questions that decide whether anything overseas needs declaring.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Section03
§33
Section 3
Illnesses, treatments, and who else DWP might contact — Qs16–20
This section builds the medical picture the rest of the claim rests on, and asks separately for consent to check it with the people involved.
01
Every illness or disability, and every treatment — Q16
A repeating table: the illness or disability, how long it's been present, and the medicines or treatments prescribed for it, with dosage and frequency.
A current prescription list can stand in for itemising every medicine by hand.
02
The professionals involved — Qs17–19
Any hospital doctor, consultant, nurse, therapist or social worker seen, how often, and when last seen; anyone else who helps — a carer, support worker, friend or family member — and what they actually do; and the claimant's GP and surgery.
The form is explicit that 'the GP only gives details of medical fact, they do not decide if you can get Attendance Allowance' — the decision is DWP's, on the whole claim.
03
Consent to contact them — Q20
A separate question asking whether DWP may contact the GP and the other people or organisations named above — with its own signature and date, distinct from the main declaration at Q64.
Special-rules claimants (Q1 = yes) are told to skip straight from here to Q47.
This section builds the medical picture the rest of the claim rests on, and asks separately for consent to check it with the people involved.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Section04
§44
Section 4
The care-needs tables — day and night, Qs21–46
The largest part of the form, and the part the claim actually turns on. Non-special-rules claimants work through every item below; special-rules claimants skip it entirely and go to Q47.
01
What DWP already has, and the home environment — Qs21–27
Existing reports or care plans, any surgery waiting list (with the operation and planned date), and any tests already had.
Then the home itself: the type of accommodation, where the toilet is relative to where the claimant sleeps, and a table of any aids or adaptations used, whether a health professional prescribed them, and what difficulty remains even with them.
02
Day care needs, and the date that starts the clock — Q28 onward
Q28 is the date the care needs started — the date the 6-month qualifying period is measured from, so it needs to be accurate, not approximate.
From there, a long paired run of questions covers getting in and out of bed; toilet and incontinence needs; washing, bathing and appearance; dressing and undressing; moving around indoors; falls and stumbles, including any Falls Clinic referral and help getting up afterwards; eating, drinking and cutting food; taking medication or treatment; communicating with others; and needing supervision — 'an eye kept on you' — with specific reasons: danger to yourself or others, being unaware of dangers, risk of self-neglect or self-harm, wandering, antisocial or aggressive behaviour, fits or blackouts, confusion, or hearing voices. Each need is also scored by how many days a week it applies, and there's a question about help with hobbies, social or religious activities and going out.
03
Night care needs
The same structure repeated for the night — settling or turning over in bed, toilet and incontinence needs, medication and treatment — each scored by how often it happens and how many minutes it takes, plus a separate supervision or 'watching over' question using the same list of danger reasons as the day section, scored by nights per week.
04
Anything else — Q46
A free-text catch-all for care needs that didn't fit anywhere in the tables above.
The largest part of the form, and the part the claim actually turns on. Non-special-rules claimants work through every item below; special-rules claimants skip it entirely and go to Q47.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Section05
§55
Section 5
Hospital or care home stays, and bank details — Qs47–54
Two practical sections: whether a current or recent stay is publicly funded, and where the money actually goes.
01
Hospital, care home or hospice stays
Whether the claimant is currently in hospital, a care home, a nursing home or a hospice — with dates, the address, the reason, and, critically, whether a local authority, health authority or government department is funding the stay.
This funding question matters: a fully publicly-funded stay can affect Attendance Allowance entitlement under the Act's own power to exclude certain claimants. Also asked: whether the claimant left such a place in the last 6 weeks, and whether War Pension or Industrial Injuries Constant Attendance Allowance is already being received or applied for.
02
Bank details — get these exactly right
The account holder's name exactly as it appears on the chequebook or statement, the bank or building society name, sort code, account number, and — for a building society account — the roll or reference number.
The form warns directly that wrong details here delay payment or lose money; the roll number in particular is easy to leave out because it isn't always obvious to the claimant.
Two practical sections: whether a current or recent stay is publicly funded, and where the money actually goes.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Section06
§66
Section 6
The optional statement, the declaration, and what to send — Qs55–65
The closing pages: an optional third-party account of the claimant's needs, the signature that actually releases payment, and a checklist that catches most of what goes wrong.
01
A statement from someone who knows the claimant — Qs55–62
Optional, but strengthens the claim: how often this person sees the claimant, what they know of the illnesses or disabilities and their effects, their own relationship to the claimant, and their own name, address, phone number, signature and date.
If the claimant's own declaration was signed on their behalf at Q15, get someone DIFFERENT to complete this section — not the same person who signed for them.
02
Extra information — Q63
A free-text box the form refers back to throughout — the place for anything that didn't fit into an earlier table.
03
The declaration — Q64
Attendance Allowance cannot be paid without this signature. It warns of prosecution, a financial penalty, reduced or stopped AA, or being asked to repay it, if the information given is wrong or incomplete, or if a later change isn't reported — and it asks you to confirm that Q20's separate consent was also signed.
04
The checklist, and copies not originals — Q65
A self-check: Q20 ticked and signed, Q64 signed, the GP details at Q19 complete, Qs17–18 complete, and Q28's start date filled in — plus a box to list every supporting document enclosed.
Send copies of any prescription list, medical report, care plan or similar evidence, never originals — DWP's own instruction is that they cannot be returned. The completed form goes free of charge to the Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance address; no stamp is needed.
The closing pages: an optional third-party account of the claimant's needs, the signature that actually releases payment, and a checklist that catches most of what goes wrong.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) · AA1❦
Many people file AA1 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — beyond what a careful person can safely do alone — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.
FAQ
AA1 questions, answered.
AA1 lets someone who has reached State Pension age, and needs help with personal care because of a disability or illness, claim Attendance Allowance.
It's paid regardless of savings or income, and regardless of whether anyone is actually providing that care yet — it exists to help with the extra cost of needing it.
You can fill it in, but signing it is narrower. Unless you're a DWP-appointed benefit appointee, a Court of Protection deputy, or hold a registered PROPERTY AND FINANCE Lasting Power of Attorney, your parent must sign the declaration personally.
A Health and Welfare LPA does not qualify for this, however wide its other powers are — a genuine trap, since it's the LPA families are more likely to have arranged first.
No fixed cut-off date — Attendance Allowance can be claimed at any time. What does have a clock on it is the 6-month qualifying period (care needs must normally have lasted 6 months before AA is paid) and how the claim was started: phoning for a pack and returning it within 6 weeks backdates to the call date; posting the form unprompted starts the claim from the date DWP receives it.
Under the special rules, the 6-month qualifying period is waived entirely — answer Q1 'yes' and the form directs you to skip the whole day-and-night care-needs section (Qs21–46) and go straight to Q47.
An SR1 form from the GP or specialist can support the claim and can be sent directly by them, but don't hold the AA1 back waiting for it — DWP says to send the claim anyway.
There are two rates — a lower rate for day OR night care needs, and a higher rate for both — set by DWP and uprated every April. Check the current weekly rate on gov.uk/attendance-allowance before relying on any figure, including one quoted here.
It can. The form asks whether a current or recent stay in hospital, a care home or a hospice is funded by a local authority, health authority or government department — a fully publicly-funded stay can affect entitlement under the Act's own exclusion power, so answer this honestly rather than leaving it blank.
Copies only — never original medical reports, assessments or care plans, because DWP's own checklist says 'we cannot return them.'
A current prescription list is offered as an alternative to listing every medicine individually at Q16.
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Where this fits
AA1 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
The claim leans on exactly the detail a family already holds when they're getting a parent's affairs in order: the illnesses, treatments and GP contact sit in the Medical Abstract; who holds the Property and Finance LPA or deputyship — the fact that decides who can actually sign — sits in People, Authority & Contacts; and the bank details the payment goes to sit in Financial Accounts.