Constant Attendance Allowance
- Conditions of entitlement
- How and when to claim
- How claims are decided
- The decision on your claim
- How much benefit you will get
- How you are paid
- If your circumstances change
- Effects of CAA on other benefits
Conditions of entitlement
Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) can be paid if you need constant care and attention as a result of your injury or disease. [Legislation (71)]
You can get CAA, for example, if you are bedridden, blind or paralysed. It is not paid for help with ordinary housework or for similar domestic purposes, and it is not paid simply for help with dressing and undressing.
If you apply for CAA, you have to prove that you need daily attendance and are likely to need it for a long time. Although you must show that you need daily attendance, the attendance need not last throughout the day.
Attendance need not be provided on a paid basis and CAA can still be paid when attendance is provided by a relative.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit must be the 100% rate payable for you to be considered for CAA. [Legislation (72)]
But you may also receive it if you get Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit of less than 100% and also receive payments for disablement which bring your total disablement to at least 100% under the:
- Workmen’s Compensation Acts
- or Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme
- or War Pension scheme. [Legislation (73)]
How and when to claim
If Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is payable at the 100% rate, an opinion will automatically be given for CAA at the time of your medical examination.
You only need apply for CAA if you are already receiving benefit at the 100% rate and you later discover that you need constant attendance. You should then claim on form BI104 which you can get from your Regional Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Delivery Centre or the Disability benefits section of Directgov.
How claims are decided
Medical services carry out an examination at the same time as giving an opinion on the extent of your disablement. The doctor will complete a report and advise on your need for attendance. They will look at and consider:
- the nature and amount of attendance you need
- if you are dependent on attendance for the necessities of life
- if you need attendance as a result of the relevant loss of faculty.
There are four rates of CAA based on the amount of attendance you need.
These are:
- part-time
- or normal maximum
- or intermediate
- or exceptional. [Legislation (74)]
Before giving advice, it may be necessary to arrange a visit in your own home to see what your requirements are.
The report will give details of your home life including information about:
- what you can do for yourself
- what help you need during the day
- how you spend your time
- details of the amount and type of attendance you need at night and the length of time taken to provide it on each occasion
- reasons for any night attendance
- what aids are available and used for moving around or outside the home and travelling
- any special features incorporated in or added to the home.
The decision maker will consider the doctor’s report and any other evidence and will decide the rate, amount and period of the award. The award will be renewed if you continue to satisfy the conditions.
The decision on your claim
You will be notified of the decision in writing. It will explain how the decision was arrived at and if there is any entitlement to benefit.
If you disagree with the decision
There is no right of appeal against a decision on CAA. If you disagree with the decision you can ask for it to be reconsidered if you consider you have good reason. [Legislation (75)]
See NI260 ‘DMA – A guide to Dispute, Supersession and Appeal’.
How much benefit you will get
How much benefit you get depends on how much looking after you need. For current rates see Benefit and pension rates (BRA5DWP)
How you are paid
Payment of your CAA will be made with your Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit direct into an account.
If your circumstances change
If you are getting CAA you must tell us straight away if you are admitted to hospital or similar institution.
CAA is payable for the first 4 weeks of free in-patient treatment if:
- you are already receiving CAA at the date of admission
- or CAA is subsequently granted for a period which includes the date of admission.
If you are in hospital longer than 4 weeks and payment has stopped, you can receive payment for certain periods when you are allowed to leave hospital. Payment will start again when you are discharged.
If you go abroad, CAA can be paid for 6 months from the date you go, or for a longer period as the Secretary of State may allow. [Legislation (77)]
Effects of CAA on other benefits
If you qualify for CAA, you cannot also get Attendance Allowance (AA) or the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), unless it is higher than the CAA. In that case you will get CAA and may get the balance of the other benefit.
While you are getting CAA, the person looking after you may be able to get Carer’s Allowance (CA) or may have their rights to basic National Insurance Retirement Pension protected without the need to pay voluntary contributions by applying for Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
CAA does not affect any other National Insurance benefits such as:
- Incapacity Benefit
- Employment and Support Allowance (contribution-based)
- Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Retirement Pension.
But CAA may affect income-related benefits you or your partner receive such as:
- Income Support
- Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit.
