The Attendance Allowance rates for 2026/27 are £76.70 a week at the lower rate and £114.60 a week at the higher rate. That is the headline; this page is everything around it - the 4-weekly and yearly conversions families actually budget with, the identical Scottish rates, the add-ons an award can unlock, and the neighbouring figures (Carer's Allowance, Pension Credit) that decide household arithmetic. Bookmark it: we update this page when the rates change each April, so the numbers here are always the live year's.
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Try the free preview →The core rates, in every unit that matters
| Rate | Per week | Every 4 weeks | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower - help needed by day OR night | £76.70 | £306.80 | £3,988.40 |
| Higher - help needed by day AND night | £114.60 | £458.40 | £5,959.20 |
| Difference | £37.90 | £151.60 | £1,970.80 |
Which rate applies is decided by the day-and-night test, not by diagnosis - our rate guide explains why the night questions carry the £1,970.80, and the two-minute check shows which side your answers point to. People nearing the end of life receive the higher rate automatically under the special rules.
Tax, means tests and National Insurance: none apply
Three facts turn the table above into real money. Attendance Allowance is tax-free, so the yearly figures arrive whole. It is not means-tested - savings, pensions and income are ignored entirely. And you do not usually need to have paid National Insurance contributions. The £5,959.20 a higher-rate award pays is £5,959.20 for everyone, from the pensioner on Pension Credit to the household with a full works pension - the benefit measures care needs and nothing else.
Scotland: PADP pays identical rates
Pension Age Disability Payment - Scotland's replacement for Attendance Allowance - pays the same £76.70 and £114.60 in 2026/27, decided by the same day-and-night test. Every figure and conversion on this page applies unchanged north of the border; only the process differs, as the Scotland hub maps. (One caution for Scottish readers doing their own research: at least one official page has carried the previous year's figures after an uprating - if a site shows £73.90 or £110.40, it is quoting 2025/26.)
The add-ons an award can unlock
| Add-on (2026/27) | Amount | The catch to check |
|---|---|---|
| Pension Credit severe disability addition | £86.05 a week | Live alone, and nobody PAID a carer's benefit for you - the full conditions |
| Pension Credit carer addition | £48.15 a week | For a carer with underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance |
| Housing Benefit / Council Tax Reduction | Varies | An award can increase both - gov.uk's own wording |
The severe disability addition is the big one: £86.05 a week is £4,474.60 a year on top of the AA itself, and it is missed constantly because nobody connects the two claims. A higher-rate award plus the addition reaches £200.65 a week - £10,433.80 a year - which the annual value calculator will confirm for your own combination.
The neighbouring figures that decide household sums
| Figure (2026/27) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Carer's Allowance | £86.45 a week |
| Carer's Allowance earnings limit | £204 a week after deductions |
| Pension Credit minimum guarantee - single | £238.00 a week |
| Pension Credit minimum guarantee - couple | £363.25 a week |
Notice the 40p gap between Carer's Allowance (£86.45) and the severe disability addition (£86.05): a working-age carer claiming CA can gain the first and cost the household the second - almost a perfect wash at best. The carer's guide walks through when to claim and when not to.
How Attendance Allowance compares with PIP and DLA
The care rates line up exactly across the systems in 2026/27: PIP's daily living component pays the same £76.70 standard and £114.60 enhanced. What AA never has is a mobility component - PIP's pays £30.30 or £80.00 a week - which is why the timing of claims around State Pension age matters so much, as Attendance Allowance or PIP explains. Nobody moving from PIP daily living to conversations about AA loses a penny on the care side.
When the rates change - and what you have to do
Benefit rates change each April, and the new amounts arrive automatically - the uprating letter that lands each spring states your new figure and requires nothing from you, as the reviews and renewals guide covers. Two housekeeping habits: file each April letter with the award letter, and if you run standing orders or budgets from the benefit, adjust them in April rather than discovering the change in August. This page is rewritten for each new tax year, so the figures above are current - if you are reading in a later year and want certainty, gov.uk carries the live rates.
What a month of delay costs at these rates
The rates table has one practical use beyond budgeting: pricing procrastination. Attendance Allowance cannot be backdated, so every week between needs-becoming-real and claim-going-in is £76.70 to £114.60 gone - £306.80 to £458.40 a month, £3,988.40 to £5,959.20 a year. Households debate claiming for months at exactly these prices. If the care needs are real, the arithmetic on this page argues one way only: protect the claim date this week and let the decision process run.
How much did Attendance Allowance go up in April 2026?
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | Rise per week | Rise per year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower rate | £73.90 | £76.70 | £2.80 | £145.60 |
| Higher rate | £110.40 | £114.60 | £4.20 | £218.40 |
The rise arrived automatically for existing awards - nothing to claim, nothing to sign. The comparison row matters for one practical reason: any website, letter or spreadsheet still showing £73.90 or £110.40 is quoting the previous year, and every figure downstream of it (yearly totals, household sums) will be stale too. Check against the live table at the top of this page.
Three worked households
Widow, lives alone, higher rate, no other claims yet. AA pays £5,959.20 a year. The award makes her a candidate for the severe disability addition - if Pension Credit comes through with it, the household gains up to a further £86.05 a week. Her first call after the award letter should be the Pension Service.
Married couple, he claims lower rate, she cares for him. AA pays £3,988.40. She is over State Pension age, so Carer's Allowance will not be paid on top of her pension - but underlying entitlement can still unlock the £48.15 carer addition if they receive Pension Credit, without costing him anything.
Couple where BOTH have care needs. Attendance Allowance is individual: each spouse claims their own, judged on their own days and nights. Two higher-rate awards are £229.20 a week - £11,918.40 a year - into one household, tax-free. Nobody should assume one award per address.
How the money arrives
Payments go into a bank, building society or credit union account - the account details you give at questions 50 to 54 of the form - normally every 4 weeks, which is why the £306.80 and £458.40 figures in the first table are the amounts most families actually see landing. The first payment after an award includes arrears back to the claim date, so it is routinely the biggest single payment of the award - covered in decision time alongside the rest of the post-decision mechanics.
Reading an award letter against this page
When the decision letter arrives, three checks take two minutes. The rate: does the letter's figure match £76.70 or £114.60 - and does the rate awarded match your nights as you described them? (A lower-rate award over genuinely heavy nights is worth a one-month reconsideration.) The start date: payment should run from your claim date, arrears included. The award type: fixed period or indefinite, which sets the renewal rhythm. Households that run those checks catch in week one the errors that others discover years later.
The figures nobody should trust
Because rates change yearly, the internet is a museum of dead numbers - old-year figures in forum posts, uprating rumours presented as fact, and calculators quietly running last April's maths. Two habits keep you safe: check any figure against gov.uk or this page's live tables, and be suspicious of any site quoting AA rates alongside promises ("your award of £X") - the rate is decided by the day-and-night test, and nobody can promise an outcome. The numbers here are checked against official sources and re-verified each April; the calculator runs on the same figures.
Rates for the neighbouring benefits, for cross-checking
Families juggling several claims keep asking one page to hold everything, so here is the wider 2026/27 skyline in brief. PIP daily living matches AA exactly (£76.70 / £114.60); PIP mobility - which AA never has - pays £30.30 or £80.00. Carer's Allowance is £86.45 with its £204 earnings line. Pension Credit's guarantee levels are £238.00 single and £363.25 couple, with the severe disability addition at £86.05 and the carer addition at £48.15. Every one of those figures has its own guide on this site explaining when it applies - this page just keeps the numbers honest and in one place. If two figures on two websites disagree, the later tax year wins; if this page and gov.uk ever disagree, gov.uk wins and we fix this page.
The last word belongs to the first table: £3,988.40 or £5,959.20 a year, tax-free, means-test-free, for describing your real days and nights on one form. Price the form-filling evening against that, and then start properly.
Common questions
What are the Attendance Allowance rates for 2026/27?
£76.70 a week at the lower rate (help needed by day OR night) and £114.60 at the higher rate (day AND night) - £3,988.40 and £5,959.20 a year respectively, tax-free.
How much is Attendance Allowance a month?
Paid every 4 weeks, the lower rate is £306.80 and the higher rate £458.40. Over a full year that is £3,988.40 and £5,959.20.
Are the rates the same in Scotland?
Yes - Pension Age Disability Payment pays identical rates (£76.70 / £114.60) under the same day-and-night test. Only the process differs.
Is Attendance Allowance taxable or means-tested?
Neither. It is tax-free, savings and income are ignored, and you do not usually need National Insurance contributions - the full amounts arrive whoever you are.
What else can an award unlock at these rates?
The Pension Credit severe disability addition (£86.05 a week for a single person living alone with no paid carer), a possible carer addition (£48.15), and increases to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
When do Attendance Allowance rates change?
Each April, automatically - the uprating letter states your new amount and needs no reply. This page is updated to the live year's figures each time.
Which rate will I get?
Whichever the day-and-night test supports: help by day or night points to the lower rate, help through both to the higher. The two-minute which-rate check on this site shows where your answers point.
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