THOUSANDS of people with hearing problems could be missing out on payments worth up to £434 a month.
Attendance allowance is available to help people with a disability severe enough that they need someone to help look after them, including those with hearing problems.
In total, 56 health conditions, including deafness, could make you eligible for the payments as long as you’ve reached the State Pension age (66).
Hearing loss affects one in three adults and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) estimates that there are 18million people in the UK who are deaf, and have hearing loss or tinnitus.
However, attendance allowance has the lowest uptake and highest rate of underpayment of all benefits, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Just 1.6million people are receiving attendance allowance across all disabilities, according to the department’s latest statistics.
And financial expert Martin Lewis has estimated a further 1.1million may be eligible.
Attendance allowance is paid at two rates, depending on the level of support the applicant needs.
The lower rate, for those requiring frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night, stands at £72.65 a week.
The higher rate, for those who require help or supervision throughout both day or night or who a medical professional has said may have 12 months or less to live, is £108.55 a week.
Attendance allowance is a means-tested benefit and covers some 56 health conditions, although the list is not considered conclusive, and payments are based on support needed.
There are 14 hearing conditions that are frequently considered, although there will be more too. They are:
The RNID said: “If you are deaf or have hearing loss, you may be able to claim attendance allowance if you need help to communicate with other people.
“It doesn’t matter if you do not currently get this help, as long as you can show you need it.”
Attendance allowance helps with extra costs if you have a disability severe enough that you need someone to help look after you.
It’s paid at two different rates and how much you get depends on the level of care that you need because of your disability.
Those eligible for the full amount could get up to £4,884 a year.
You can get attendance allowance as long as you’ve reached state pension age (66) and the following applies:
There are 56 categories of medical conditions you can claim with, including:
To get the benefit, you must have been in Britain for at least two of the last three years, unless you’re a refugee or have humanitarian protection status.
If you live in a care home and pay for all the costs yourself, you’ll still be able to claim attendance allowance.
The lower rate is worth £72.65 a week, while the higher rate comes in at £108.55 a week.
Over a whole year, the higher rate benefit adds up to £5,644.60 a year – which works out at £434 every four weeks.
If you are entitled to the lower amount, you could be missing out on £3,268.80 a year, or £251.40 every four weeks.
The difference between the higher and lower entitlement is £1,615.20.
If you receive the lower rate, you are entitled to frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night.
On the higher rate, you will get help or supervision throughout the day and night.
You are also entitled to this if a medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live.
To apply, you’ll need to download the attendance allowance form on the Gov.UK website and then send it by post.
It should be sent to the following address: Attendance Allowance Unit, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 2AD.
If you’re unable to print the form yourself, you can call the attendance allowance helpline on 0800 731 0122 and ask for a copy to be sent to you.
It’s worth applying, as you may get extra pension credit, housing benefit or a council tax reduction if you receive attendance allowance.
The application form is very long and asks for a lot of personal information.
If you think you’ll need help filling in the form, you should get a friend, relative or adviser to help you complete it if possible.
Entitledto has a full list of organisations that can help with claiming disability benefits on its website.
If you want to know if you are receiving the right amount of benefits, you can a number of online calculators including on the Entitledto and Turn2us websites.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
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