Pension Age Disability Payment Care Home Rules: When PADP Stops and When It Continues

What Replaced Attendance Allowance in Scotland

Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) is Scotland's replacement for Attendance Allowance. Administered by Social Security Scotland rather than the DWP, it pays the same two rates for 2026/2027: £76.70 per week at the lower rate and £114.60 per week at the higher rate.

If your parent was already receiving Attendance Allowance when Scotland transferred the benefit, their payments moved across automatically — same amount, different administrator. New claims from anyone living in Scotland now go through Social Security Scotland's application process rather than the DWP.

The eligibility criteria mirror the old Attendance Allowance rules: your parent must be at State Pension age or over, need help with personal care or supervision to stay safe, and have needed that help for at least six months (unless terminally ill, in which case the six-month qualifying period is waived under special rules).

The 28-Day Suspension Rule

Here's where care home placement changes things. If your parent moves into a care home and the local authority contributes toward the accommodation costs — even partially — PADP's daily living component is suspended after 28 days.

The 28-day period is calculated using days spent in alternative accommodation. The day your parent enters and the day they leave do not count, and separate periods can be linked when there are no more than 28 days between them.

This suspension applies because the council's funding is considered to be covering the care needs that PADP was paying for. Double-funding the same care from two public sources isn't allowed under the rules.

When Self-Funders Keep Their PADP

Self-funders — parents with capital above £36,750 who pay their own accommodation costs — do not have PADP suspended, even after 28 days. The distinction matters financially.

A self-funding parent receiving the higher rate keeps £114.60 per week (roughly £5,960 per year) that a council-funded resident in the same care home would lose. That's a meaningful offset against care home fees that often surprises families who assumed every benefit stops when someone enters residential care.

The key qualifier is that the council must not be contributing toward accommodation costs. Receiving the non-means-tested Free Personal Care (£260.30/week) and Free Nursing Care (£117.10/week) allowances does not count as council accommodation funding — those payments cover care duties, not hotel costs. So a self-funder receiving FPC, FNC, and PADP simultaneously is entirely normal and correct.

Reporting the Move to Social Security Scotland

Your parent's attorney or guardian must notify Social Security Scotland as soon as reasonably practicable after the care home admission. Failing to report promptly creates an overpayment that Social Security Scotland will recover, typically by deducting from future benefit payments or demanding a lump-sum repayment.

If you're unsure whether the placement is self-funded or council-funded (which can depend on the outcome of the financial assessment, sometimes completed weeks after admission), report the move anyway and explain that funding status is being determined. Social Security Scotland will note the case and adjust once the financial assessment confirms the arrangement.

How PADP Interacts With Respite and Hospital Stays

Temporary respite care lasting less than 28 days does not by itself trigger the 28-day suspension, but separate periods can be linked when there are no more than 28 days between them. Keep a record of each admission, leave and return date.

Hospital admissions are covered by the same 28-day framework, and periods in hospital and a care home can interact through the linked-period rules. This is why keeping a written timeline of admission, leave and discharge dates matters.

Getting the Full Picture

PADP is one piece of a funding jigsaw that includes the means test, Free Personal Care, deferred payment agreements, and the Carer Support Payment for whoever is providing care. The Scotland Care Funding Guide maps how all these elements connect and includes a benefit eligibility tracker worksheet to identify what your parent should be claiming.

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