The Attendance Allowance online form: what it asks and how to answer

Checked 21 September 2026 against GOV.UK · Sources at the bottom

There are three ways to claim Attendance Allowance: online, by phone, or by post using the paper form (AA1). This guide is about the online route - what it suits, what to have ready before you start, and how to use this helper's output alongside it.

Is the online form right for you?

The online route suits people who are comfortable filling in a long form on a screen, or have someone helping who is; are claiming for themselves, or a friend or family member is claiming on their own behalf; and want the claim to start as soon as possible without waiting for anything to arrive in the post.

It does not suit everyone. You cannot apply online if you are an appointee or hold power of attorney. If that's your situation, the phone or paper route is the one to use instead - our AA1 form guide covers both, and neither of those two routes carries this restriction.

If typing isn't easy, or the person claiming would rather someone read questions aloud and write down the answers, the paper form or the phone claim line (0800 731 0122) may suit better. All three routes ask for the same information in the end - the online form is simply the fastest way to get a claim moving, for the people it suits.

One thing is the same whichever route you use: the claim starts from the date you apply, not the date the form is finished and sent off. That's worth knowing if you're weighing up whether to start online now and finish the details later, versus waiting until everything is gathered - starting sooner, even with gaps to fill in as you go, sets the earlier date.

What you'll need before you start

Filling in the online form in one sitting is much easier if you have the following ready. This list is drawn from the questions this helper itself asks in its own "About them" screens - the online form asks for the same kind of detail, because it's collecting the same claim, just through a different screen.

About the person claiming: full name, including any other names they've used, and title (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms); National Insurance number; date of birth; sex; nationality; full address, including postcode; a mobile number, and a daytime number if different.

Their GP: the GP's name, or the surgery's name, and its address; the surgery's phone number; the date of the person's last GP appointment.

If you are signing on their behalf: if you're an appointee, hold power of attorney, or are a corporate body signing for someone else, you'll also need your own name, National Insurance number, date of birth and address. As above, this route (online) is not open to appointees or people with power of attorney - use the phone or paper route instead in that case.

Everything about their daily life: the bulk of the form - the part this helper is built to make easier - asks about the help someone needs with everyday things: washing, dressing, eating, taking medication, getting around the house, and being safe on their own, both in the day and at night. There's no fixed list here because the online form's own question wording and order haven't been checked (see the note below), but the ground it covers is the same ground this helper's own interview covers - see every question, one at a time for what each one is really asking.

Having the GP's details and a rough sense of "since when" this help has been needed also matters: Attendance Allowance usually needs the help or supervision to have already been needed for about 6 months, unless the person is nearing the end of life, in which case that wait is skipped.

What to confirm before relying on this guide for exact wording

TO CONFIRM: the online form's exact question order and any character limits have not yet been checked against the live GOV.UK site (apply-for-attendance-allowance.dwp.gov.uk). Treat any specific question numbers, box names or word limits as unverified until this note is updated.

What we can say with confidence, because it's sourced and dated on this site: You cannot apply online if you are an appointee or hold power of attorney. What we can't yet say with confidence is the precise order the online screens ask questions in, or whether any answer box has a character or word limit - GOV.UK's online service can change its screens without much notice, and this site only publishes what's been checked. Until that check is done, treat this guide as a guide to what to prepare, not a screen-by-screen walkthrough.

Using this helper's answer sheet alongside the online form

This helper turns your plain answers about a normal day and night into the wording an Attendance Allowance claim needs. Once you've gone through the interview here, you get a numbered answer sheet - plain wording, one point per question, built from what you actually said and nothing more.

The most reliable way to use it with the online form today is side by side: keep the answer sheet open in one window or printed out, and copy each relevant answer across as you reach the matching question on screen. Because the wording only ever restates what you said in the interview - nothing is invented or inflated to make the claim sound stronger - what you paste in is exactly what you'd have written yourself, just already put into clear sentences. See real examples of what the wording looks like.

A future version of this page will link to a "paste view" that lets you copy your answers across in one step rather than question by question. That doesn't exist yet - this is a forward note, not a description of a current feature.

Before you submit

Whichever route you use, a few things are worth doing before you finish:

Check every date and number against the actual documents you have to hand (NI number, GP appointment date, and so on) rather than from memory.
Keep a copy of what you submitted, whether that's a screenshot, a saved answer sheet, or the paper form photocopied before posting.
Note the date you applied - since that's the date the claim starts from.

If you're claiming by post instead, the form goes to Freepost DWP Attendance Allowance and needs no stamp. DWP sends a text or letter within 3 weeks to say when to expect a decision.

Comparing the three routes

Online is the fastest way to get a claim date on the clock, since nothing needs to arrive or be posted back first - but it's not open to appointees or people with power of attorney. The phone route (0800 731 0122) is a close second: the claim starts the day you call, as long as the finished form gets back to DWP within 6 weeks. Downloading and printing the paper form yourself skips the phone call, but the claim only starts once DWP actually receives it in the post, so it's worth posting the same day you finish filling it in - see our AA1 form guide for the full comparison, including what to send alongside it.

None of these three routes changes what the form is actually asking, or how DWP decides the claim - only how quickly the clock starts and how comfortable the process feels for the person filling it in.

Sources

How to claim Attendance Allowance, GOV.UK - checked 21 September 2026

Written by Kalvis, founder of Three Sisters. See how we test.