Attendance Allowance helps with the extra costs of needing care, but what happens to it if you move into a care home? The answer depends on who pays for your care. This guide explains the care home rules for Attendance Allowance, when it stops and when it continues, the 28-day rule, and how it works alongside hospital stays and respite care, so you do not lose money or miss out.
The basic rule
Whether Attendance Allowance continues in a care home depends on how your care is funded. If your care home place is paid for by the local authority or the NHS, your Attendance Allowance usually stops after 28 days. If you pay for your own care home fees, known as being a self-funder, your Attendance Allowance normally continues, because you are still meeting the costs of your care yourself.
Why self-funders keep it
The logic is that Attendance Allowance is there to help with the cost of care, so if the state is already funding your care home place, the benefit is no longer needed and stops. But if you are paying for your own place, you are still bearing those costs, so the benefit continues and can go towards your fees. This makes the distinction between funded and self-funded places very important.
The 28-day rule
If your care is state-funded, Attendance Allowance is paid for the first 28 days of your stay and then stops. The same 28-day rule applies to stays in hospital. If you have separate stays close together, the periods can be added together under linking rules, so a series of short funded stays may count towards the 28 days. It is important to tell the DWP when you go into a care home so your award is handled correctly.
Respite and short stays
If you go into a care home for respite or a short break and the stay is funded by the local authority, the days count towards the 28-day limit, but for a short respite stay your Attendance Allowance often continues because you do not reach 28 days. If you have regular respite stays, the linking rules mean the days can add up, so keep track and get advice if you have frequent breaks, to understand how your award is affected.
If you move out again
If your Attendance Allowance stopped because you were in a funded care home and you later move out, you can usually have it reinstated, as the help is needed again once you are meeting your own care needs at home. Tell the DWP when your circumstances change so your award can restart promptly. Keeping the DWP informed both when you go in and when you come out avoids gaps or overpayments.
What about the person who cared for you?
Going into a care home does not only affect your own benefit. If someone was claiming a carer's benefit for looking after you, that may stop too, because they are no longer providing the same level of care, and a carer's benefit usually stops after the person being cared for has been in a care home or hospital for 28 days. It is worth the carer getting advice about their own position when you move into care.
Funding assessments and your home
Whether your care is funded depends on a financial assessment by the local authority, which looks at your income and capital. There are rules about how your former home is treated, including a period where its value is disregarded in certain circumstances. This is a complex area, and the outcome decides whether you are a self-funder, which in turn decides what happens to your Attendance Allowance, so it is well worth getting proper advice.
Other benefits and care homes
Moving into a care home can affect other benefits too, such as Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, and the way your income is treated changes. Because several benefits can be affected at once, and the rules interact, this is exactly the kind of situation where a benefits check pays off, so that you claim everything you are still entitled to and avoid any overpayments.
Telling the DWP about a move
Whatever the funding arrangement, always tell the DWP when you go into a care home and when you leave, and keep a note of the dates. The DWP needs to know to work out whether the 28-day rule applies and when your payments should stop or restart. Failing to report a move can lead to an overpayment that you, or your appointee, would have to repay, so prompt reporting protects you.
NHS-funded care
If your care is funded by the NHS, for example through NHS continuing healthcare, the same principle applies and your Attendance Allowance usually stops after 28 days, because your care costs are being met for you. NHS continuing healthcare is itself worth knowing about, as it can fund the full cost of care for people with significant health needs, so if you think you might qualify it is worth asking for an assessment.
Plan ahead before moving in
If a move into a care home is being planned, it is worth getting benefits advice beforehand rather than afterwards. An adviser can explain how the funding assessment will treat your income, savings and former home, whether you are likely to be a self-funder, and what will happen to your Attendance Allowance and other benefits. Planning ahead helps you avoid surprises and make the most of the support available.
Using your Attendance Allowance for care
For self-funders who keep their Attendance Allowance, the money can go towards the cost of care, whether that is care home fees or help at home. Because it is tax-free and not means-tested, it is a useful and reliable contribution to care costs. If your needs have increased, it is also worth checking whether you should be on the higher rate, as a move into care often reflects a higher level of need than before.
In short
If the local authority or NHS pays for your care home place, Attendance Allowance stops after 28 days. If you fund your own place, it continues and can help with your fees. Tell the DWP when you go into or leave a care home, and get advice, because the funding assessment that decides whether you are a self-funder also decides what happens to your benefit.
Review your needs over time
Whether you stay at home or move into care, your needs can change, and it is worth reviewing your Attendance Allowance from time to time. If your condition worsens and you now need help both day and night, you may be entitled to the higher rate. Keeping your award in step with your needs, and reporting changes promptly, makes sure you receive the right amount and avoids any overpayment if your circumstances change the other way.
Where to get help
Care home funding and benefits are complicated, and free help is available from Age UK, Citizens Advice and your local authority. They can explain how a care home stay affects your Attendance Allowance and other support. For the benefit itself and the two rates, see our guide to Attendance Allowance.
