Iona Bain had first-hand experience of the benefit07:03, 28 May 2026Benefit and state pension increases confirmedMillions of people over the state pension age could be eligible for a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit that can provide up to £114.60 a week. However, one expert shared fears that people could be held back by their own mindset around their condition.‌Attendance Allowance is designed for pensioners with a long-term disability or health condition to help cover the added cost of aids, assistance or other support they may need in their day-to-day lives. BBC’s Iona Bain revealed she had had a personal experience with the benefit as she urged others to check their eligibility.‌She shared on Morning Live: “A couple of years ago, my mum was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration and it led to deterioration of her eyesight, particularly in one eye and it definitely had an impact on her life.‌“It definitely meant that she needed more support. So, I looked into a particular benefit called Attendance Allowance to see whether she would be eligible and a few things really jumped out at me.”Iona discovered that being officially diagnosed with a particular condition won’t make you any more or less eligible for Attendance Allowance. She continued: “That's not really how it works.‌“It's more about being able to show what the impact of that is on your day-to-day life and the fact that you now need support as a result of that condition or disability.”The pension-age benefit also isn’t means-tested, which Iona noted is “unusual” for benefits. It’s paid at two different rates, depending on how much care you need because of your condition.The lower rate, if you only need care during either the day or night, is £76.70 per week and £114.60 per week if you need support during the day and night. You don’t need to have support in place to claim and you don’t need to spend the money on paying a carer or attendant, it can be spent on keeping your independence.‌Iona shared one thing she thinks could preventing eligible people from applying: “They might be quite stoic about that they want to just get on with things. They feel that they've been coping just fine so they don't really need that extra support.“But actually, sometimes you just get used to living a certain way and you don't realise that you've been paying for things in your life as a result of your condition and that is actually a pressure and a burden there.”She assured there’s no “shame” or “stigma” in getting help either: “The first part of this whole process is describing how your disability or condition is affecting your day-to-day life and the struggles that you're having as a result.‌“Some people might find that quite draining and difficult so it's good to just have some moral support there apart from anything.“In our case, my dad was able to help mum and me put together this application because he was able to give a lot of that information, and build a picture of how this condition was affecting my mum's life, but there are people who might feel reluctant or embarrassed at that help, and that's really understandable, but I would say it's absolutely fine to do.”Article continues below“If you would prefer to do this on your own, or you have to do this on your own, my advice would be keep a diary for a couple of weeks of what you're living with.”More information and applications for Attendance Allowance can be found on the Gov.uk website.