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Help with Pension Age Disability Payment in Scotland

PADP replaced Attendance Allowance in Scotland. Same day-and-night test, Scottish process - and answers written for you, ready to copy.

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Attendance Allowance became Pension Age Disability Payment

In Scotland, Attendance Allowance has been replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP), run by Social Security Scotland. It is available across the whole of Scotland, everyone who had Attendance Allowance has been moved across automatically, and new Attendance Allowance claims are no longer possible in Scotland. The help itself is the same idea: money for people over State Pension age who need help or supervision because of their health - and the legal test uses the same words as Attendance Allowance, so describing your day and night needs properly matters just as much.

Same weekly rates£76.70 lower rate (day OR night needs), £114.60 higher rate (day AND night). Not means-tested.
Apply your wayOnline, by phone on 0800 182 2222, or on paper. Social Security Scotland can help you fill it in - at home if needed.
They can gather evidenceYou can ask Social Security Scotland to collect supporting information from your GP or care team for you.
Different challenge routeIf you disagree with a decision you ask for a re-determination within 42 days - and Short-term Assistance can keep an old award paid while a challenge runs.
Already on Adult Disability Payment? You stay on it when you reach State Pension age - you do not move to PADP, and you do not need to apply for it.

The application asks about the same reality the old AA1 did: what help you need through the day, and what happens at night - how many times, and for how long. Our answers are written in the words the decision maker needs to see, with the Scottish terminology and routes throughout.

Worth reading first: the full PADP guide, how to apply step by step, challenging a decision, and why nights decide the rate. Free tools, no sign-up: the two-minute which-rate check (the same day-and-night test), the printable Care Needs Diary and the annual value calculator - the rates match PADP exactly.

Quick answers

Is Pension Age Disability Payment the same as Attendance Allowance?

Same rates (£76.70 / £114.60) and the same day-and-night test, run by Social Security Scotland with a friendlier process: no assessments at all, help completing the form on request, and Scottish challenge rights. The full map: the Scotland hub.

How does the two-part application work?

Part 1 (short, identity) starts the application - online or in one phone call to 0800 182 2222. Part 2 carries the care questions, with 8 weeks to return and extensions on request. Step by step: how to apply for PADP.

I already get Adult Disability Payment - do I switch at pension age?

No - ADP continues for life and you should not apply for PADP. PADP is for people at pension age with no existing award - or movers arriving on Attendance Allowance, whose AA runs 13 more weeks.

What if Social Security Scotland's decision is wrong?

Request a re-determination within 42 days; SSS has 56 days to answer, then a 31-day tribunal right - with Short-term Assistance keeping a reduced award paid while you fight. Details: re-determination and appeals.

Ready to fill the form in?

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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No card, no sign-up for the preview. The whole form is £99.99, one-off.
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