Attendance Allowance check → Claiming Attendance Allowance for a parent

Claiming Attendance Allowance for a parent

Claiming for mum or dad: who can fill in and sign the AA1, when you need an appointee or power of attorney, and where the letters and money go.

Written and checked by the Attendance Allowance Check team at Virix Ltd. Last reviewed 25 September 2026 against gov.uk.

Often it is a son or daughter who notices the missed tablets or the struggle in the bath, and starts the claim. This page is about the practical side of claiming for a parent: who can fill in the form, who has to sign it, when you need an appointee or a power of attorney, and what happens afterwards. Whether your parent is likely to qualify is covered in our eligibility check, and the form itself in our guide to the AA1.

Filling in the form and signing it are two different things

Anyone can help fill in the AA1. The form says: “If you are filling in this form for someone else, tell us about them, not you.”

Signing is stricter. The AA1 says you can fill in the form for someone else, but they must still sign it themselves unless one of these applies:

• you have already been legally appointed to receive and deal with their benefits, as a benefit appointee, a deputy, or someone holding a Power of Attorney for Property and Finance (the form says this does not include a Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare);
• your parent is too ill or disabled to claim for themselves, or lacks the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, and you wish to be appointed to deal with their benefits; or
• you are completing the form in their absence and/or without their knowledge.

Question 15 asks whether you are signing for someone else, and why. If you tick yes, the form reminds you to sign both the consent at question 20 and the declaration at question 64. The declaration is serious: the form says no benefit can be paid until it is signed and returned, and it sets out what can happen if information is wrong or incomplete.

Which situation are you in?

Talking to your parent first

Usually this is your parent’s claim and their signature, so go through the questions together and read back your answers before they sign. Many people say “I manage”. The form asks about the difficulty they have or the help they need, whether they get that help or not, so it is worth gently checking the answers against what you actually see.

The notes that come with the AA1 suggest writing down what help was needed, or what was difficult, over one or two days, from getting up to getting up the next morning, and keeping a record of a good day and a bad day if things vary. Our guide to what not to write helps with the wording.

Under the special rules for people nearing the end of life, the notes say you do not have to tell the person you are claiming for them; the DWP’s letters do not mention end of life or the special rules. Our page on cancer and the special rules explains this route.

When an appointee is needed

GOV.UK explains that you can apply for the right to deal with the benefits of someone who cannot manage their own affairs because they are mentally incapable or severely disabled. Only one appointee can act for someone who gets benefits from the DWP. An appointee can be a friend or relative, or an organisation such as a solicitor or local council.

What an appointee does

According to GOV.UK, an appointee signs the claim form, tells the benefit office about changes that affect how much the person gets, receives the benefit directly and spends it in the person’s best interests, and tells the office if they stop being the appointee. GOV.UK warns that if the benefit is overpaid, the appointee could be held responsible, depending on the circumstances.

How it is arranged

GOV.UK sets out the steps. The DWP arranges to visit your parent to assess whether an appointee is needed. It then interviews you to make sure you are suitable, and during the interview you and the interviewer fill in an appointee application form (BF56). If the DWP agrees, you are sent form BF57, confirming the appointment. GOV.UK is clear that you are not the appointee until this happens. The DWP then monitors the arrangement to make sure it is still suitable.

If you are starting a claim at the same time, the AA1 lets you tick “I want to be appointed to act on their behalf” at question 15, and says the DWP will contact you about it.

Lasting power of attorney

In England and Wales, a lasting power of attorney (LPA) lets a person appoint one or more “attorneys” to make decisions for them. GOV.UK describes two types:

• The property and financial affairs LPA covers things like managing a bank or building society account, paying bills, and collecting benefits or a pension. GOV.UK says it can be used as soon as it is registered, with the person’s permission.
• The health and welfare LPA covers decisions such as daily routine and medical care. The AA1 does not count it as authority to sign a claim.

Two points matter for families. First, the person must have mental capacity when they make the LPA, so it cannot be set up once capacity has gone. Second, it must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can use it.

If you hold a registered property and finance LPA, the AA1 asks whether you have an online account. If you do not, it asks you to send the full registered documents, either the original or a certified copy, and says they will be sent back; it warns that not sending them could cause delays. If you do, the DWP says it will contact you to ask for the access code.

In Scotland

An LPA made in England and Wales is legally binding only there. In Scotland, new claims are for Pension Age Disability Payment from Social Security Scotland, and mygov.scot sets out different rules:

• Scotland has its own continuing (financial) and welfare powers of attorney, certified by a solicitor or medical practitioner.
• If you already have the legal right to act, such as a power of attorney or a guardianship order, you do not need to become an appointee, but Social Security Scotland will need to see the original documents or certified copies.
• If your parent can make their own decisions, they cannot have an appointee, but you can help as a third party representative. Your parent must tell Social Security Scotland they can talk to you, and for Pension Age Disability Payment this can be done online as part of the application.
• A DWP appointee cannot normally act for someone’s Social Security Scotland applications and awards.

The statement from someone who knows your parent

Questions 55 to 62 are an optional statement from someone who knows the person. The form suggests that the best person is the one most involved with their treatment or care. It asks how often they see your parent, what their illnesses and disabilities are and how they are affected by them, their job or relationship to your parent, and their name, address, daytime phone number, signature and date.

One rule catches families out. The form says that if you are signing on behalf of the person, you should get someone else to fill in this section. If you are signing as appointee or attorney, ask a sibling, a neighbour, a friend who visits, or a professional such as a district nurse or social worker. If your parent is signing their own form, you can write the statement yourself.

An illustrative example

This is a made-up example to show the level of detail, not a real person or wording to copy.

At question 56: “Mrs Ellis has arthritis in her hands and knees and heart failure. When I call in she is often still in her nightclothes because she cannot manage buttons or get her feet into her slippers. Twice this winter I have found her on the kitchen floor, unable to get up. She holds on to the furniture to get to the toilet and cannot get in or out of the bath, so her daughter washes her on Tuesdays and Fridays.”

Letters, payments and what happens next

The AA1 asks, at question 50, for the name of the account holder, exactly as it is shown on the chequebook or statement, and warns that wrong account details can delay payment or lose money. If you are an appointee, GOV.UK says the benefit is paid directly to you. A registered property and finance LPA can, according to GOV.UK, cover collecting benefits and managing a bank account.

The form says the DWP will send letters about Attendance Allowance to the person claimed for, so agree between you who will open the post. Keep the decision letter safe: its date matters if you need to challenge it.

After the claim is sent, GOV.UK says there will be a text or letter within 3 weeks explaining when to expect a decision, and a letter once the decision is made. If the claim is awarded, the decision letter says when the first payment will be.

If the decision is wrong, you can ask for it to be looked at again. GOV.UK calls this mandatory reconsideration (our guide: refused, what next), and you usually need to ask within one month of the date on the decision letter. If you are writing on your parent’s behalf, the DWP’s form for this asks for signed authority from them unless you are already registered with the DWP as their appointee or deputy. At a tribunal appeal, GOV.UK says anyone can be a representative, including family.

Getting help

Age UK and Citizens Advice help with benefit forms free of charge where they can. GOV.UK has guides to becoming an appointee and making a lasting power of attorney, and mygov.scot covers acting on behalf of someone in Scotland. See also common mistakes.

Nothing on this page is legal advice, and we cannot say whether any claim will succeed; that is decided by the DWP or, in Scotland, Social Security Scotland.

If you would like a hand with it

We are a private company, Virix Ltd, not part of any government department. We go through the AA1 with you, or with the person you care for, over the telephone, write the answers up in your own words, then print the form and post it to you to read, sign and send. It costs £149, once. If the claim is refused, we help you ask for the decision to be looked at again at no extra cost, and if the answer is still no, we refund the full £149. Or you can pay £15 now for printing and posting, and £234 only if the claim is awarded (terms). Equally, the claim is free to make yourself, and Age UK and Citizens Advice help at no charge where they have capacity, as do some local services. How the options compare.