A Guide to the financial support provided by the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16 to 64 from the Department for Work and Pensions. This applies to disabled people even if they have an indefinite or lifetime award.
see also:
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – Benefit Rates 2019 to 2020
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment and Points
Transfer from DLA to PIP
As part of a wider reform of the welfare system PIP will include an assessment of individual needs and aims to ensure that financial support is targeted at those who face the greatest challenges to living independently.
PIP is for people aged 16 to 64 to help towards some of the extra costs arising from health condition or disability. It is based on how a person’s condition affects them, not the condition they have.
DLA will remain for children up to the age of 16. Once PIP has been introduced, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will contact them as they approach 16 to explain what will happen.
DLA will remain available to those 65 or over on 8 April 2013 (the day that PIP is introduced).
In the same way as DLA, claimants can receive PIP whether they are in or out of work. The benefit is not means tested or taxed.
There are two components to PIP – for daily living and mobility needs.
Each component can be paid at standard rate, or enhanced rate for those with the greatest needs.
PIP will include an assessment of the individual’s needs by a health professional. Most people will have a face to face consultation as part of their claim. You can find out more about the claim process over the page. Awards will be reviewed to ensure that the claimant is receiving the right support. Reviews will be at appropriate intervals depending on how likely it is for the claimant’s condition or impairment to change.
How much you’ll get
See: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – Benefit Rates 2019 to 2020
The Claiming Process
Information about PIP will be available from a range of sources, including online, via leaflets and through support organisations. This will explain the eligibility criteria and help the claimant decide if they want to claim PIP. Existing DLA claimants will be contacted individually to ask if they want to claim PIP.
Making a claim
Claimants (or those supporting them) phone DWP to make a claim for PIP. This involves an identity check and some basic questions. Paper claims won’t normally be used, and online claims should be available from Spring 2014. Additional support, such as provision of alternative formats will be available. DWP will send claimants a form where they can explain how their disability affects them.
Information from claimant
Claimants complete the ‘How your disability affects you’ form to explain how their condition affects their daily life, both on good and bad days and over a range of activities. Supporting evidence can be sent with this form, which they return to DWP by post.
Assessment
Claim details, form and supporting evidence are passed to the health professional. Most people will be asked to attend a face to face consultation unless a decision can be reached on the basis of written evidence. Home visits will be available when necessary and claimants can take someone along for support. The consultation will provide the opportunity to explain their support needs in their own words. The health professional reviews the claim against a set of clear descriptors to assess the challenges faced by the individual.
Decision regarding the claim
A DWP Case Manager will use all the information in the claim form, from the health professional and anything else that has been provided. They will make a reasoned decision on entitlement, including the level and length of award.
For more information see: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment and Points
When is PIP being introduced?
From October 2015:
All the remaining claimants in receipt of a DLA award will be invited to make a claim for PIP. DWP will randomly select DLA claimants in receipt of an indefinite award or a fixed term award, and notify them about what they need to do to claim PIP. DWP will invite claims as early as possible from recipients who have turned 65 after 8 April 2013, when PIP was first introduced. By October 2017 All existing DLA claimants (aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013) will have been invited to claim PIP.
What about existing DLA claimants
There are no automatic entitlements to PIP, even where an indefinite or lifetime DLA award has been made. Existing DLA recipients who are aged between 16 and 64 years old on or after 8 April 2013 (the day that PIP is introduced) will need to decide if they want to make a claim for PIP.
DWP will write to individuals at some point before Spring 2016 to let them know when their DLA is due to end, and explain how they can make a claim for PIP. Claimants will be randomly selected for reassessment.
Existing claimants do not need to take any action now.
From October 2013, existing DLA claimants that report a change in their condition, or where their fixed term award is due to expire, will be reassessed for PIP, unless they have already received a DLA renewal letter (which are sent well in advance of the review date).
If an existing DLA recipient makes a claim for PIP then their DLA would normally continue until a decision on their PIP claim is made. If PIP is not awarded or not claimed then DLA will stop.
How benefits and services are affected
PIP does not affect benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseeker’s Allowance. People receiving Attendance Allowance will not be affected by the introduction of PIP.
Like DLA, receiving PIP may provide access to other help. This can include Blue Badges, concessionary travel passes or Motability.
Carers may also receive Carers Allowance because the person they are caring for is receiving DLA or PIP.
If claimants are subsequently not eligible for PIP then these benefits and services may also be affected.