Attendance Allowance Through Kinly

Kindly is an organisation that charges extortionate amounts of money to fill in your AA form.
Age concern and other organisations will do this FOC.
Do not get involved with them.

Thank you for that reply , confirms my thoughts

AgeUk will help you do this and our local one has help booklet particularly for people living with dementia.

I used Age UK to help me when my H had Alzheimer’s and they were incredibly helpful.
I got AA for him at the higher rate, just make an appointment for them to come to you.

Thanks for helpful replies, it's for a neighbour who has no one to help . I'd never heard of them, thought there must be a cost as they're nothing to do with government .

Is there a particular condition requiring AA. if so, the charity for that condition may help too.

It is important to talk about the very worst day sge has experienced. It is very easy to say 'oh but I can manage that'.

Citizens Advice will also hep.

I filled in an AA form using a YouTube video to guide me through each step. Was very helpful and was awarded the higher rate for my husband who had a massive stroke over a year ago.
Kittylester is right and it says as much on the YouTube vid. For instance don’t just say ‘yes’ the person can get up for the toilet in the night, does she need to hold onto furniture in order to steady herself or sit for a while to get her breath or use a stick etc.
Is time consuming and tedious and as others have said there are also agencies that can help for free.

There is information on eligibility for AA on the Gov.uk website. I completed a form for my dad, it was a long form but not difficult to do if you take your time with it. Read it through first, get the information you need such as GP details, medical info, bank account number etc and you should be fine. I found it much easier to do than applying for his Blue Badge.

As others have said, Age UK are very helpful too. You don't need to pay for someone to fill it in.

I was an advisor with Age Uk for many years doing these forms regulalriy. The advie on how to fill the orm and avoid paid sites is right.

My 'trick ' uestion sed to be the first uestion 'Do you need help getting in and out of bed. The usual answer was I mange or I am Ok. to which my reply was, so you still leap out of bed like 20 year old.

Then someone would say, 'Oh no' and it would start. After they had woken up and sat up in bed they could do nothing for about 5 minutes because they were breathless, then getting up reuired holding onto the bedside table and bed head, and so on and so on

Going to the toilet starts in the chair you were sitting in when the need arose and ends there after you have been.

I am always willing to help through PM's

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. Obviously Kinly is not recommended, I think I clicked on that randomly when all the other websites came up for my query.
Monica I may well take up your offer after the form arrives and we have had a good look through it.

I completed my own for Arthritis and it was accepted. Use Grok or ChatGPT to advise you of the best way to fill it in.

My brother had not considered that he might be eligible for AA until I suggested it. A company, I think it was probably Kinley helped him enormously and over the phone. They have a vested interest in you getting it as they get the first month's I think. For him it was worth it with clear appointments to fill in the form - it took a couple of hours on the phone iirc.
I generally agree that doing things like this yourself is best, but the company he used have a very good record of claims being accepted so will suit some people.

Thanks Colls - the only positive post regarding Kinly
we are going to go through the form first before deciding. lots of positive suggestions.

Would get any documents/letters about the person’s condition/disabilities, photocopy them and send with the form. Supporting evidence is always good.

Who are Kinly? Neverheard of them. I filled mine in myself. Took me a few weeks as it's a huge form,deliberately I think to put you off! It's fairly straightforward just very lengthy. Include everything even if it seems irrelevant. I included jar opener,ring pull can opener etc. Good luck

I think a general rule of thumb is that if you have difficulty during the day but not at night you will get the lower rate. So is worth thinking seriously about any problems this person has at night, getting into bed, getting out of bed, going to the toilet, and has as has been said this includes having to lean on furniture for support, having to sit on the bed for several minutes to get her breath back or wait till the pain eases off.
Wish you well with this.

OP you might find it easier to apply online.

I'd read many comments about how hard it was to fill in a paper form and was dreading it but applied for myself online and found it very easy to the extent that I was convinced I'd missed something.

I have lymphoedema in both legs and wear compression wraps which I can't manage to put on myself. My daughter does it for me.

I expected to have to state this on the form but there was just a tick box that asked if I needed help with dressing and footwear which I ticked.

Several days after I submitted it I got 2 letters in the post. The first confirmed they'd got my application and they'd be in touch if they needed more information and that it could take up to 12 weeks for a decision. The 2nd dated 6 days later said I'd been awarded AA at the lower rate.

Some Local Councils have Benefit advisers and there are some Outreach Support services that can help. Age concern and some churches have advisers on hand. You should never have to pay someone to help complete a form. Make some phone calls. Good luck

The AA forms are not difficult to complete - just time consuming.
Print one off the gov.uk website as I don’t think the online version has the save and return function.
Complete in all honesty, but give the worst day possible scenario; you do authorise them to check with the GP.

I was advised not to do the online form because there isn’t enough room to put everything you want to say.

kittylester

Is there a particular condition requiring AA. if so, the charity for that condition may help too.

It is important to talk about the very worst day sge has experienced. It is very easy to say 'oh but I can manage that'.

You are so right, worst case always. The language you use is instrumental:
"Can you walk 100yds without help?
Yes, but I am flat on my back for hours afterward. But you said YES. Answer, not without the help of an ambulance if I try"

Can you cook a simple meal unaided? Yes, if I can stand long enough to microwave. You said YES. No, I am unable to stand long enough to prepare a meal, and can rely on pre-prepared ready meals, but only when I am able to stand

We did one for my mother-in-law.
The age uk (or maybe CAB) website had a blow by blow account question by question with examples.

It was a successful application.

Sometimes we needed to put similar things in different sections and we did use the extra space at the end for any clarifications - we numbered our comments (say) Q8 page 30 so it was easy to see what was what.

It did take quite a long time but I did it in pencil first and got better at it as I did it I think.

Don't be put off by the length - not every section will apply.
All the best.
🤞

Regarding night times... My mother-in-law slept through nearly every night. but still got the higher rate.
She needed help into and out of bed though (evening/morning).

I'm sure it isn't just the night time thing so don't be put off.