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When you arrange home care, you must declare this change of circumstances to your local council as soon as possible, if you are receiving any benefits or funding. You may be eligible for different home care benefits or you may no longer be eligible for benefits you are currently receiving.
You can continue to receive, or newly apply for, many benefits payments once you start to receive home care, whether that care is paid for by the state or you pay for your own care.
Each person’s needs, finances and therefore eligibility for each benefit are highly individual, so you must speak with your local council about any you think you may be interested in applying for.
Below are a few benefits that you can continue receiving payments for. These are for people receiving care, rather than for carers who may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance.
Benefits you can get alongside home care
Attendance Allowance 2024/25
Attendance Allowance is financial assistance with extra costs for people with a disability that need care as a result of the disability. It is tax-free and is not means-tested. Being eligible for it can make you eligible for other benefits, including Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction. It is up to you how you spend the money. If you are paying for home care privately, you may choose to put it towards funding that, but you are not obliged to.
To be eligible for Attendance Allowance, you must:
- Have reached State Pension age
- Have a disability. This could be a physical or learning disability, or long term physical or mental health condition that is considered a disability
- You need care or support with day to day living because of your disability
- You have needed that care for at least six months, or you are terminally ill.
When you apply for Attendance Allowance, you will need to provide medical evidence of your disability. This could be a formal diagnosis letter from a doctor, or the doctor may write one specially for you.
You could receive one of two amounts, £72.65 or £108.55 a week, depending on how much care you need.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) 2024/25
If you are an adult in need of long-term home care because of an illness or disability, you may be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, or PIP. How much you receive depends on how severely your condition affects you and how much care you need. It is not relevant how much money you or your family has.
To be eligible to claim this while receiving home care you must:
- Be over 16 years old
- Be under State Pension age. Your State Pension age differs according to your gender and date of birth. You can calculate your state pension age here.
- Have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least two out of the last three years.
The payment comes in two parts, one for daily living and one for mobility. Depending on your situation, this daily living part will be either £72.65 or £108.55 per week, and the mobility part will be either £28.70 or £75.75 per week.
If you receive Constant Attendance Allowance, you’ll receive a reduced amount for the daily living part of PIP. If you are terminally ill, you will receive a higher daily living payment.
For more information on PIP, read our comprehensive Personal Independence Payment guide.
Industrial Injuries Disablement 2024/25
This benefit is for people who have an illness or disability caused by an accident or disease at work. Examples might be asbestos poisoning, or arthritis directly caused by the work you did. To be eligible, the incident or cause of your disability or illness must have happened in England, Scotland or Wales, either at your place of work or on an approved training course. Self-employed people are not entitled to this benefit.
How much money you get for this depends on how disabled or ill you are deemed as a result. This is formally assessed and assigned a percentage, which correlates with a weekly payment amount. These payments range from £44.30 per week if you are 20% disabled up to £221.50 a week if you are considered 100% disabled. You must be at least 14% disabled to receive any payment.
You can receive this payment whether or not your disability means you require care. If you do need care, you can also apply for the Constant Attendance Allowance.
Constant Attendance Allowance 2024/25
If you receive the Industrial Injuries Disablement payment above, or a War Disablement Pension, and also require care due to your work or war-related illness or disability, you can apply for the Constant Attendance Allowance.
There are four amounts payable, depending on the extent of your disability and your care needs:
- Part day rate: £44.35 per week
- Full day rate: £88.70 per week
- Intermediate rate: £133.05 per week
- Exceptional rate: £177.40 per week
If you are assessed as needing constant care for the rest of your life, you may also be eligible for Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance. This is an additional £88.70 per week.
Pension Credit 2024/25
Pension credit is for people at State Pension age or over. There are two parts to it. The Guarantee Credit part is for people with an income of below £218.15 a week, or £332.95 for a couple. The amount you’ll receive is as much as it takes to top up to those figures.
Some people can receive the second part, Savings Credit, which is up to £17.01 a week for single people or £19.04 for couples. Savings Credit only applies to people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016.
Pension Credit is means-tested and will look at your income and savings. If you are receiving this as a single person and move in with a partner who is under State Pension age, you will no longer be eligible.
Disability Premiums 2024/25
A Disability Premium is a payment over and above a benefit or benefits that you are already receiving that you are considered in need of. This is currently £42.50 per week for single people or £60.60 for couples.
To be eligible to receive disability premium, either you or your partner must be below State Pension age and either:
- Be registered blind
Or receive one or more of the following benefits:
- Personal Independence Payment
- Disability Living Allowance
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Income support
- Housing benefit
- Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment Support Allowance (Severe or Enhanced Disability Premiums only)
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- War Pensioners Mobility Supplement
- Working Tax Credit (with disability element)
If you are assessed as being eligible, you may be able to receive:
Enhanced Disability Premium: £20.85 per week for single people, £29.75 per week for couples if at least one of you meets the eligibility criteria.
Severe Disability Premium: £81.50 per week for single people, £163 per week for a couple. For this Premium, both people in the couple must be eligible.
For more information about the benefit and how to claim, see our detailed guide to Disability Premiums.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) 2024/25
This is for people whose disability or illness affects how much they can work, if at all.
To be eligible for ESA, you must:
- Have limited ability to work, such as you can only physically work a few hours per week or have been considered by medical professionals as unable to work
- Be under State Pension age
- Have contributed enough National Insurance
- Not be receiving Statutory Sick Pay, Job Seeker’s Allowance, Income Support or Universal Credit
- Not be currently in paid employment or self-employment.
If you get new style ESA, you’ll receive up to £138.20 a week.
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