State pensioners with these conditions given extra £5,740 from DWP

State pensioners with certain health conditions can get an extra cash boost worth up to £5,740.80 per year from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Attendance Allowance is a DWP benefit that can be claimed by people of State Pension age who require a certain level of care to help with extra living costs.

It is paid at two different rates and the amount you can get depends on how much care you need. Following an uprating of 1.7% in April this year, Attendance Allowance is now worth £73.90 per week if you get the lower rate, or £110.40 per week if you get the higher rate. It is paid every four weeks so claimants will receive 13 payments in total over a full year. As such, pensioners on the lower rate can get £295.60 per month, or £3,842.80 per year, while those on the higher rate can get £441.60 per month, or £5,740.80 per year.

Attendance Allowance is paid to those who are eligible in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but if you live in Scotland you will need to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) instead which is paid at exactly the same rate.

The lower rate of both Attendance Allowance and PADP is given to those who need frequent help or constant supervision during the day or at night, while the higher rate is given to those who need help or supervision throughout the day and night, or if a medical professional has said you're nearing the end of life.

To be eligible for either Attendance Allowance or PADP you must have reached State Pension age AND all of the following apply:

• you have a physical disability, a mental disability, or a health condition
• your disability or health condition is severe enough for you to need help caring for yourself or someone to supervise you, for your own or someone else's safety
• you have needed that help for at least six months

While there isn't a definitive list of health conditions that qualify for Attendance Allowance and PADP, the DWP does have a list of 56 main disabling conditions recorded on its Disability Living Allowance computer system.

If you have one of these conditions you may be likely to qualify for up to £5,740.80 worth of annual support, but it is important to note that this is not a checklist for qualifying for Attendance Allowance or PAPD, it is simply an overview of the type of conditions that are being supported.

• Arthritis
• Spondylosis
• Back Pain - Other / Precise Diagnosis not Specified
• Disease of The Muscles, Bones or Joints
• Trauma to Limbs
• Visual Disorders and Diseases
• Hearing Disorders
• Heart disease
• Respiratory Disorders and Diseases
• Asthma
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Cerebrovascular Disease
• Peripheral vascular Disease
• Epilepsy
• Neurological Diseases
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinsons Disease
• Motor Neurone Disease
• Chronic Pain Syndromes
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Metabolic Disease
• Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
• Major Trauma Other than Traumatic Paraplegia/Tetraplegia
• Learning Difficulties
• Psychosis
• Psychoneurosis
• Personality Disorder
• Dementia
• Behavioural Disorder
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• Hyperkinetic Syndrome
• Renal Disorders
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Bowel and Stomach Disease
• Blood Disorders
• Haemophilia
• Multi System Disorders
• Multiple Allergy Syndrome
• Skin Disease
• Malignant Disease
• Severely Mentally impaired
• Double Amputee
• Deaf/Blind
• Haemodialysis
• Frailty
• Total Parenteral Nutrition
• AIDS
• Infectious diseases: Viral disease - Coronavirus covid-19
• Infectious diseases: Viral disease - precise diagnosis not specified
• Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease - Tuberculosis
• Infectious diseases: Bacterial disease - precise diagnosis not specified
• Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease - Malaria
• Infectious diseases: Protozoal disease - other / precise diagnosis not specified
• Infectious diseases - other / precise diagnosis not specified
• Cognitive disorder - other / precise diagnosis not specified
• Terminally Ill