Pensioners are urged to make sure they’re not missing out on a benefit potentially worth nearly £6,000 per year – and it isn’t means-tested. Attendance Allowance is a weekly payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that helps with extra costs for people with a disability or health condition severe enough to need someone to help look after them.

It’s paid at two different rates, and the amount successful claimants receive depends on the level of care required due to the disability or health condition, the UK Government website explains. You could get £76.70 or £114.60 a week to help with personal support if both of the following apply:

• You have a physical disability, a mental disability, or a health condition
• You’re State Pension age (66) or older

To receive it, the disability or health condition must be severe enough for the claimant to need help caring for themselves or for someone to supervise them, for their own or someone else’s safety. They must also have needed that help for at least 6 months

The £76.70 rate is given to people who require frequent help or constant supervision during the day, or supervision at night.

The £114.60 rate applies to those who need help or supervision throughout both day and night, or to those for whom a medical professional has said they’re nearing the end of life.

The higher rate works out to £5,959 over the year, and given the considerable costs of care, it’s important that eligible people take advantage of the benefit as soon as possible – especially since it is not backdated.

MoneySavingExpert.com, the consumer finance website founded by money saving guru Martin Lewis, says Attendance Allowance is “one of the most underclaimed benefits, with as many as 1.1 million missing out on up to £5.2 BILLION a year” and calls on people with support needs covered by the eligibility criteria to check whether they can benefit.

The benefit is not means-tested, meaning how much you earn or how much you have in savings doesn’t affect how much you receive. Claimants have the latitude to spend the funds as they like.

Additionally, it’s not subject to tax, and therefore doesn’t affect tax status.

Being granted it may also allow claimants to access additional Pension Credit, Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction, bringing further savings as cost-of-living pressures continue to bite.

Attendance Allowance can be applied for online or by post. Those applying for someone else and who are an appointee, you, or a deputy with power of attorney will need to complete a paper form and apply by post.

Other eligibility criteria apply, such as not being on certain benefits, including Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Adult Disability Payment (ADP), Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA), or Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP).

In Scotland, Attendance allowance has been replaced by the Pension Age Disability Payment. You can find out more about eligibility on the UK Government website.