Seniors Decree – Universal Benefit

The Universal Benefit, once recognised, absorbs the attendance allowance referred to in Law no. 18 of 1980 and the additional benefits referred to in Article 1, paragraph 164, of Law no. 234 of 2021.

The Universal Benefit is provided by INPS, upon the explicit claim of a senior individual who is not self-sufficient and meets the requirements provided for by law, also through the patronage institutes.

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WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The Universal Benefit consists of:

• a fixed monetary portion corresponding to the attendance allowance referred to in Article 1 of Law no. 18 of 11 February 1980. The third paragraph of said article applies to this fixed monetary portion;
• a supplementary portion called “assistance allowance”, currently equal to 850 Euro per month, within the limits of available resources.

The supplementary portion is aimed at:

• paying for the cost of care and assistance work carried out by domestic workers with the task of providing care to the person and who have an employment relationship in accordance with the national collective agreements of the sector, referred to in Article 51 of Legislative Decree no. 81 of 15 June 2015;

or:

• purchasing services intended for care and assistance work and provided by companies and qualified professionals in the non-residential social assistance sector, in compliance with the specific provisions contained in the integrated regional and local programming.

The two methods of expenditure serve as alternatives.

WITHDRAWAL OF BENEFIT

The benefit lapses, and the assistance allowance (supplementary portion) cannot be paid, in the following cases:

• termination, for any reason, of the payment of the bridging allowance;
• ordinary social-health ISEE (equivalent economic situation indicator) certificate exceeding 6,000 Euro;
• failure to use the amounts paid as a supplementary portion in the manner indicated above.

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At the time of submitting the claim and for the entire duration of the benefit, the claimant for the Universal Benefit must meet the requirements.

Assessment of the very severe level of care required

To identify the very severe level of care required, assessment is carried out in the manner referred to in Article 29-ter of Decree-Law no. 76 of 16 July 2020, converted with amendments by Law no. 120 of 11 September 2020, on the basis of the health information available in the Institute’s archives, and of the documentation that will be attached by the interested party when submitting the claim through the dedicated service. The assessment will be carried out taking into account the indications provided by the technical-scientific commission referred to in Article 34, paragraph 3, of Legislative Decree no. 29/2024 approved by Ministerial Decree of 19 December 2024.
In particular, the assessment will be carried out on the basis of the following parameters:

• health requirement: assessment of very severe disability assessed on the basis of the parameters referred to in Article 3 of the Ministerial Decree of 26 September 2016, or in all cases where continuous 24-hour assistance is necessary, sometimes also provided by several persons at the same time, the interruption of which, even for a very short period, can lead to serious complications or even death;
• social requirement, which shall refer to the situation of the person with a disability in the family and welfare context on the basis of the score resulting from the answers provided by the claimant for the benefit when filling out the claim. The total score of the questionnaire makes it possible to recognise the very severe care requirement of the claimant.

In order to recognise the very severe level of care required, both requirements must be met (health and social: very severe disability and the existence of a care requirement with a score of at least 8).

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

To obtain the benefit, the interested party must submit a request to INPS.
The claim may be submitted electronically by those aged 80 or over or from the first day of the month in which the age requirement is met, through the dedicated portal on the Institute’s official website, using their digital identity, or through the patronage institutes referred to in Law no. 152 of 30 March 2001.
The claim may be submitted for the entire trial period (until 31 December 2026) and, if the requirements provided for by law are met, will be recognised from the month of submission until December 2026.
Processing will start from the date of submission of the claim, if the age requirement is already met, or upon being met if this comes later.

Method of payment of the fixed portion and the supplementary portion
The fixed portion and the supplementary portion are settled by two separate payments:

• the fixed portion is paid according to the methods already in use for the payment of the attendance allowance;
• the supplementary portion - assistance allowance - is paid with a specific payment prepared by the automated procedure through the “Universal Benefit” service.

The settlement order sent to the citizen will indicate both the fixed portion, with indication of the pension certificate identifying the attendance allowance, and the supplementary portion with indication of the start date of the instalments and the monthly amount recognised.

Waiver of the Universal Benefit

The citizen may, at a later time following the acceptance of the claim, waive the benefit.

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The table shows the deadlines exceeding thirty days, set by the Institute with a Regulation, and specifies the relevant manager.

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