Martin Lewis says state pensioners get a free £434 a month with these four conditions. The BBC Sounds podcast host urged over a million pensioners to get in touch with the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) for Attendance Allowance.
Martin said: “Attendance Allowance is not means tested they (DWP) do not look at your means or how much money you’ve got – you are entitled to it or you’re not entitled to it regardless of finances. It is for those who need help with daily living who have mental or physical health conditions.”
Mr Lewis, the 52-year-old ITV regular, also detailed some of the conditions which apply. Parkinson’s, or physical disabilities, dementia or terminal illness, were highlighted by the Money Saving Expert founder and consumer champion.
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He said: “If you need help during the day, or at night, but not both, it’s the lower rate of £73 a week – just under £4,000 a year. If you need help during the day and at night that’s the higher rate of £109 a week – just under £6,000 a year.”
He said: “This is crucially important. You must’ve needed help, not you must’ve got help. There are many people out there who need help and haven’t got help which is why Attendance Allowance is there.” He added: “The way I would apply for this is to call up and request a form, I would not do it online because if you call them that date is noted and then when your application goes in it will be back paid to the date that you called.”
“If you do it online then it’s the point that you submit, which is clearly a later point because you got quite a lot of work to do to get it. Now there is a case that if you take a long time after calling up – more than six weeks to submit your form – then they don’t have to backpay because you’ve taken too long to do your form and therefore you can’t do it as a retrospective.”
He said: “I generally suggest you call rather than go online.”