Attendance Allowance or PIP: Which One Applies to Your Parent?
If you have started looking into what financial support your mum or dad might be entitled to, you have probably run into two names and no clear explanation of the difference.
The short version is that they are the same idea for different ages, with one significant exception. Getting it right matters, because applying for the wrong one wastes months.
The basic rule
Personal Independence Payment, or PIP, is for people under State Pension age.
Attendance Allowance is for people over State Pension age.
State Pension age is currently rising from 66 to 67, phased between 2026 and 2028, so it is worth checking your parent's exact date rather than assuming.
Neither is means-tested. Savings, income and property make no difference to either.
The important exception
Here is the part that trips families up.
If your parent was already receiving PIP before they reached State Pension age, they keep it. They do not move onto Attendance Allowance and they should not be asked to. The award continues and is reviewed in the normal way.
This matters because of the mobility component. PIP has one. Attendance Allowance does not. Someone who reaches State Pension age already on PIP with a mobility award keeps that money, and if they are on the enhanced mobility rate they keep access to the Motability scheme with it. Someone who waits and claims Attendance Allowance instead can never get a mobility component at all.
So if your parent is in their early sixties and struggling, and you are wondering whether to bother applying now or wait, apply now. It is one of the few genuinely time-sensitive decisions in this area.
What each one pays in 2026/27
Attendance Allowance pays £76.70 a week at the lower rate, for help needed during the day or at night, and £114.60 a week at the higher rate, for help needed during the day and at night, or under the special rules for terminal illness. Our full guide to Attendance Allowance covers the form, the eligibility test and how to apply.
PIP has two components that can be awarded together. The daily living component pays £76.70 standard or £114.60 enhanced. The mobility component pays £30.30 standard or £80.00 enhanced.
So the daily living rates match exactly. The difference is the mobility money, worth up to £80 a week, and unavailable through Attendance Allowance.
How the assessments differ
This is the other meaningful difference, and it is about process rather than money.
Attendance Allowance is assessed on a paper form. It is long, and the questions invite people to undersell their difficulties, but there is usually no face-to-face assessment.
PIP uses a points-based system across daily living and mobility activities, and normally involves an assessment with a health professional, by telephone, video or in person. Many people find the PIP process considerably more stressful.
In both cases the same principle applies. The assessment is about what your parent needs help with, not what they manage to do on a good day with gritted teeth.
Neither of these is Carer's Allowance
Worth clearing up, because families conflate all three.
Attendance Allowance and PIP are paid to the person who needs help. Carer's Allowance is paid to somebody who provides at least 35 hours a week of unpaid care to them.
They interact. A successful Attendance Allowance or PIP daily living award can open the door to a Carer's Allowance claim by a family member. If you are the one doing the caring, that is worth looking at once your parent's award is in place.
Which should you apply for?
Parent under State Pension age: PIP. Apply as early as the difficulties justify, because of the mobility component point above.
Parent over State Pension age and not currently on PIP or DLA: Attendance Allowance.
Parent already on PIP and about to reach State Pension age: do nothing. The award continues.
Parent already on DLA and over 65: they usually stay on DLA rather than moving to either.
A few questions families often ask
Can someone get both at once?
No. They are alternatives, not additions.
Does either affect the State Pension?
No. Both are tax-free and do not reduce the State Pension.
Do savings matter?
No. Neither is means-tested. If you are looking at savings and property because you are worried about care costs more broadly, that is a separate question and we have covered whether you have to sell the house to pay for care.
Does my parent need a formal diagnosis?
No. Both assess the help needed, not the label. The combined effect of several age-related conditions frequently qualifies.
What if the application is refused?
Both have a Mandatory Reconsideration process followed by a tribunal appeal. A significant proportion of appeals succeed, so a refusal is not the end of it.
Is it different in Scotland?
Yes. Attendance Allowance is being replaced by Pension Age Disability Payment, delivered by Social Security Scotland at the same rates. Adult Disability Payment replaces PIP.
What to do next
If your parent is over State Pension age, start with our full guide to Attendance Allowance, which covers the form, what the DWP is actually looking for, and the free help available to complete it.
If you are the one providing the day-to-day care, read up on Carer's Allowance once your parent's award is in place, because one often unlocks the other.
Neither of these benefits is the whole funding picture. Depending on your parent's situation, three other routes are worth knowing about:
NHS Continuing Healthcare, which is not means-tested and can fund care at home in full where health needs are the main driver. It is the most valuable route and the least well known.
Council funding, where the care needs assessment is free and open to everyone regardless of savings, even if the council never contributes a penny.
Personal Health Budgets, which give you a say in who provides NHS-funded care rather than accepting whoever is commissioned locally.
And if you are looking at all of this because daily life is getting harder for your mum or dad, we are happy to talk through what support at home could look like, including what it typically costs and how Gladys works. Call 01225 63 77 19 or request a callback.
