Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

You need to contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by phone or letter to apply for PIP but first, you need to make sure you’re able to claim PIP.

Visit our 'How to apply for PIP' page for more information.

Before you contact the DWP you will need:

• Your name, address and telephone number.
• Your date of birth your National Insurance number, if you have one (you can find this on letters about tax, pensions and benefits).
• Your bank or building society account number and sort code.
• Your doctor or health worker’s name, address and telephone number.
• Dates and addresses for any time you’ve spent in a care home or hospital.
• Dates for any time you spent abroad for more than 4 weeks at a time, and the countries you visited.

If you want help when you contact the DWP:

• Ask for someone you trust to be added to your phone call.
• Ask for someone you trust to make the call for you. 
  If you do this you will need to be sat next to them when they make the call.

How to contact the DWP:
It is usually quicker to get a PIP application decision by phone.

Phone: 0800 917 2222
Textphone: 0800 917 7777
Relay UK (a tool for people who cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 08009 172 222 
Lines are open Monday - Friday from 8am - 5pm.

Letters should be sent to:
Personal Independence Payment New Claims,
Post Handling Site B,
Wolverhampton.
WV99 1AH

PIP is taking the place of DLA (Disability Living Allowance) for most adults. But if you're younger than 16 or born on or before April 8, 1948, you still get DLA.

Can I get PIP in Scotland?

In Scotland, you apply for ADP (Adult Disability Payment) instead of PIP. If you move from Scotland to England or Wales, you have to ask for PIP, and your ADP stops 13 weeks after you move.

For PIP eligibility information visit the UK government website.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is comprised of one of two (or both) components: the Daily Living component and the Mobility component.

Each component has two rates – standard and enhanced.

For the current financial year, the PIP rates are:

Daily living weekly rate:

• Standard rate: £72.65
• Enhanced rate: £108.55

Mobility weekly rate:

• Standard rate: £28.70
• Enhanced rate: £75.75

No.

Entitlement for PIP is based on how someone’s conditions or disabilities affect them, not the condition or disability itself. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has taken the approach that the only way to accurately decide who should receive PIP is to assess everyone individually, looking at their personal circumstances and barriers they may face.

The assessment  for PIP aims to make greater use of evidence from the people who support an applicant (e.g. a GP, support worker  or specialist nurse). The majority of people who make a claim will be assessed face-to-face.

This is different to other benefits claims, where there were no face-to-face assessments, and expert evidence was rarely requested. Exceptions will be made for claimants who are terminally ill and who are not expected to live for more than 12 months . These are known as special rules.

Not necessarily. There is no automatic transfer from DLA to PIP.

If you currently receive DLA, and are of an eligible age for PIP (see questions below on children and pensioners), you you do not need to do anything until DWP contact you by letter, inviting you to apply for PIP. If you do not respond to the letter your DLA will stop and there may be a delay before you can get PIP.

Everyone is individually assessed against the PIP entitlement criteria. The DWP examines individual circumstances, and entitlement depends on how the ability to carry out daily tasks and/or mobility is affected by your condition or disability.

Unlike DLA, entitlement does not depend on what health condition or disability you have. It solely depends upon the effect that your condition or disability has on your daily living and/or mobility.

Not necessarily. The criteria and assessment for PIP are different to DLA.

Some people who could get DLA may not be able to get PIP, but some people who could not get DLA may be able to get PIP.

This is especially true for the mobility aspect of PIP, which is likely to better reflect the barriers faced by people with a learning disability in planning and making a journey.

If you're not receiving DLA, you can apply for PIP whenever you want to. However, if you are currently getting DLA, applying for PIP before you are invited to carries the risk of a reduced award, or the claim being rejected.

Health professionals will review your personal circumstances and how your condition or disabilities impact your daily life. They then provide a recommendation to the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions), who make the decision on your entitlement and how long you can claim for.

The health professional should look at things you provide, evidence they gather themselves, and input from professionals who support you (such as your doctor). They also look at non-medical evidence, like statements from your social worker  and your care plan. These are very important for people with a learning disability.

Often, you will be invited to a face-to-face consultation  with the health professional. We recommend taking a companion or advocate  with you.

Awards of PIP are based on your health condition or disability and how it affects you carrying out certain activities, and what help you need with those activities. PIP uses a points system. Points are given depending on how much support you need with the different activities.

An example of an activity you’ll be assessed on is preparing food. You’ll be given points depending on how much difficulty you have. For example:

• You have no difficulties preparing a meal = 0 points
• You can only prepare a meal using a microwave = 2 points.
• You need supervision or assistance preparing a meal = 4 points
• You are unable to prepare and cook food = 8 points.

You need a minimum of 8 points in total to get the standard rate of PIP, and 12 points to get the enhanced rate for daily living and/or mobility.

If you wish, you can request to record the assessment. To do so, you need to contact the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments before your assessment appointment and follow certain requirements. For more information, visit the CHDA website or call 0800 288 8777.

The health professional prepares a report for a benefit decision maker at the DWP. This report, along with all the gathered information, is used to determine your PIP entitlement, the rate at which you receive it, and the duration of the award. If you do not agree with the decision, you can appeal  it.

If you start your PIP claim within four weeks of receiving the invitation, your Disability Living Allowance (DLA) payments will continue until a decision is made on your PIP claim. However, if you do not start your PIP claim within four weeks, your DLA payments will stop.

Once PIP is awarded, the DWP will backdate your payments to the date of application, ensuring that you receive all the PIP payments you were eligible for from the date you applied.

There is an online tool from Benefits and Work that can give you an idea of what you might be able to claim. The actual decision you receive may be different.

Mencap is not accountable for any information you receive from this tool.

You have 28 days to return the Personal Independence Payment claim form (PIP2), from the date that your claim was created.

It's best to assume that you have 28 days to return the form from the date that your initial claim phone call was made. As the form will be returned using second class post, we advise you to allow a minimum of four working days for the form to be returned. It can take up to 10 days from the date of the phone call to receive the form.

This is a small window to complete and return the form, especially when taking into account the fact that many people will need to make advice appointments.

Extensions to the deadline are available on request for people who need them – reasons accepted by the DWP include:

• waiting for an advice appointment
• an inability to complete the form alone
• illness resulting in an inability to complete the form

It is advised that you request an extension as soon as you can if you believe that you may not make the initial deadline. You must ask them to provide the authority for the extension in writing.

• Statements from a carer, friend, or family member. These should describe how they assist you with various tasks, such as washing, cooking, and dressing, and why you might have difficulty performing these tasks yourself.
• A diary about what you do each day. If your condition often changes, a diary can show these changes. Make sure to mention how your condition impacts your everyday tasks, the help you need, and what you need to do to get by.
• You could add a personal statement, explaining the history of your condition, how your ability to cope differs from day to day, and what an average week looks like for you.
• Medical evidence*: This usually takes the form of a letter or report from a healthcare professional, such as a doctor, psychiatrist, nurse, or other healthcare professional. They can explain what your condition is, the treatment you're undergoing, and how the condition affects your everyday life. Not all healthcare professionals may be able or willing to write such letters, but it's worth asking them. They might charge a fee for doing this.

*Supporting evidence can be provided at any stage of a PIP claim, whether it's for new claims, renewal claims, or during an appeal.

When requesting medical evidence for PIP from a healthcare professional, ensure that the information is relevant to the questions asked on your PIP form. The evidence should include information about the difficulties your condition causes you and how you meet the criteria for PIP. The healthcare professional should understand that you will be assessed based on your condition most of the time and that for you to be considered able to carry out an activity, you need to be able to do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable timescale.

Supporting evidence can be provided at any stage of a PIP claim, whether it's for new claims, renewal claims, or during an appeal.

If you're waiting to receive a document for supporting evidence, don't delay returning your PIP form or attending an assessment. Always send back the PIP form and include a letter explaining that more information will follow

You have the right to ask the DWP to reconsider their PIP decision. This is called a ‘ mandatory reconsideration’.

This must be requested within one calendar month of the decision being made (meaning one month from the date on the DWP decision letter). In exceptional circumstances you may be able to request an extension to this deadline from the DWP. If you are given an extension, ask the DWP to confirm it in writing.

If you're not satisfied with the decision of your mandatory reconsideration, you can make an appeal to a first-tier tribunal – but you must complete the mandatory reconsideration first. If the mandatory reconsideration is not requested within the time period given, then an appeal will not be possible. If you have any questions or would like advice about a PIP decision relating to a learning disability, please contact the Mencap helpline

If your mandatory reconsideration or appeal is successful and the DWP find that you are eligible for PIP (or for a higher rate of your existing PIP), the DWP will backdate your claim to the date of your first application and you will receive all of the PIP payments that you were eligible for from the day that you first put in your claim.

This is quite likely. All PIP awards are time-limited, and the maximum award length is 10 years, but most awards are much shorter.

The case manager  working on your application decides how long your PIP award will last for and when your next review should be. If you have a change of circumstances, you can ask for a review during your award period, this might make your money go up or down.

The DWP might decide to review your PIP benefits at any time. In their review, they will decide if your PIP award should last longer, if the amount should change or if your claim should end. They will send you a letter with a PIP review form, and you must fill in the form and send it back within 4 weeks. If you need more time, you can phone the DWP and ask for an extension, confirmed in writing. If you don’t return the form within 4 weeks, the DWP will stop your PIP payments.