DWP could give you an extra £430 a month for one of 14 hearing conditions

People across the UK could be missing out on hundreds due to them every month from the Department of Work and Pensions if they don’t realise they are eligible for Attendance Allowance. The benefit is given to people over the state pension age who have certain medical conditions or disabilities.

The payment is meant to help the pensioners afford the added costs of their day-to-day care due to their disability and eligibility. And the amount given is largely dependent on what care or support a person needs.

But contrary to what some may think you do not need a carer or attendant to claim the benefit. Rather the aim is to help people stay independent in their own homes.

According to the charity Regain Hearing some hearing conditions or issues can impact every day activities like driving, making phone calls, or going shopping. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People notes that if these hearing conditions do affect your daily life and ability to communicate, you may be eligible for Attendance Allowance.

There are 14 conditions frequently considered for Attendance Allowance according to the Mirror:

• Sensorineural hearing loss due to Trauma

• Menieres disease

• Deafness - congenital

• Chronic suppurative otitis media

• Otitis externa - chronic

• Chronic secretory otitis media

• Mastoiditis

• Sensorineural hearing loss - Other causes/type not known

• Conductive hearing loss due to Trauma

• Presbyacusis

• Otosclerosis

• Conductive hearing loss - Other causes/types not known

• Mixed hearing loss

• Labyrinthitis

Those who don’t have these specific conditions but believe they fit the eligibility criteria can still apply for the benefit. Attendance Allowance is not means-tested so the amount a person earns or has in their savings will not affect their eligibility or the payment rate they receive.

Attendance Allowance is currently split into two rates depending on how much help an applicant needs. The lower rate is currently worth £72.65 a week, for those who need help during the day or night. The higher rate of £108.55 is for those that need help during both the day and night or people who are terminally ill.

If you are eligible for the higher rate, you could receive more than £430 a month or £5,600 a year. People who already receive Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment or the care component of Disability Living Allowance are not able to apply for Attendance Allowance.