The AA1 form in its Northern Ireland edition, run by the Department for Communities. Written for you, with the Northern Ireland contacts and routes throughout.
Northern Ireland has Attendance Allowance too: the same benefit and the same AA1 care questions, run by the Department for Communities through its Disability and Carers Service rather than the DWP. The rates, the day-and-night test and the care questions are identical; what differs is who you contact, where the form goes and the question numbers (the NI edition runs two lower, so GB question 29 is NI question 27).
The AA1 asks the same care questions as in England and Wales (days, nights, falls, supervision), and our answers work for it exactly the same, with the Northern Ireland contacts and routes where they differ.
Worth reading first: how the claim works, the full Northern Ireland guide and the AA1 form section by section. Free tools, no sign-up: the two-minute which-rate check, the printable Care Needs Diary and the annual value calculator. The care questions and rates are identical in NI.
Only in the numbering: Northern Ireland has its own edition of the AA1, with the same care questions and rates, numbered two lower (GB question 29 is NI question 27). The Disability and Carers Service runs it (0800 587 0912, or dcs.forms@dfcni.gov.uk for the pack). Our walkthrough applies with that shift.
Yes. Contact the Disability and Carers Service for the pack and the claim starts from that contact, provided the form returns within 6 weeks. It can also be handed in at any Jobs and Benefits office. Full playbook: the NI guide.
DfC Attendance Allowance, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 2JS (a mail-processing site); the claim itself is administered in Northern Ireland. Yes, really. Post it without a second thought.
Ask for a mandatory reconsideration (form MR2(NI)) within one month, then appeal to the Appeals Service (form NOA1 (SS)) within a month of the notice. The approach in our challenge guide transfers wholesale.
Answer simple questions about the help needed by day and by night. We write every care answer, ready to copy onto the form.
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