Disability Rights UK Factsheet# Personal Independence Payment (PIP)### What is PIP?
The personal independence payment (PIP) replaces working age disability living allowance (DLA) from 8 April 2013. The change applies across the UK.
What are the rules for PIP?
To get the personal independence payment you must:
- be age 16-64
- satisfy the daily living and/or mobility activities test for 3 months prior to claiming and be likely to continue to satisfy this test for a period of at least 9 months after claiming. You will not necessarily have to wait 3 months from your date of claim before getting PIP as the qualifying period starts from when your eligible needs arise and not from when you make a claim.
- pass the residence and presence tests
You will not be able to claim PIP once you are 65 years old but you will be able to stay on PIP if you claimed or received it before you reached the age of 65. (If you are over 65 you can claim attendance allowance: see our Factsheet F22 - attendance allowance .)
You can receive PIP whether you are in or out of work.
Claiming PIP
You claim PIP using two forms:
- Personal Independence claim form (PIP1) - This is your initial claim. It asks to supply your name, address, contact details, payment details etc. It also asks you questions about your nationality, whether you are in hospital or residential care or if are terminally ill.
- How your disability affects you (PIP1003) - This asks you questions on the activities tests
You can download sample claim forms at http://tinyurl.com/a25f8gj.
How much is PIP?
The weekly amounts of PIP are:
Daily living component
- standard rate – If you have a limited ability to carry out daily living activities - £53.00
- enhanced rate – If you have a severely limited ability to carry out daily living activities - £79.15
Mobility component
- standard rate – If you have a limited mobility - £21.00
- enhanced rate - If you have a severely limited mobility - £55.25
If you have a terminal illness (that is if you are suffering from a progressive disease where death can be expected within 6 months) you will automatically receive the daily living component enhanced rate. You will also be able to apply for the mobility component and receive it immediately if you qualify.
If you are in a care home you will be entitled to the mobility component so long as you satisfy the qualifying conditions.
If you are paid PIP you are free to spend the money in the way that suits you best.
The Activities tests
In order to qualify for PIP you will have score a certain number of points in relation to 12 activities. These are:
- Preparing food.
- Taking nutrition.
- Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition.
- Washing and bathing.
- Managing toilet needs or incontinence.
- Dressing and undressing.
- Communicating verbally.
- Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words.
- Engaging with other people face to face.
- Making budgeting decisions.
- Planning and following journeys. (used in the test for the mobility component)
- Moving around. (used in the test for the mobility component)
Each activity has a set of descriptors. Points are awarded for each activity that you cannot do based on whether you fit a descriptor within those activities. You can score points for more than one activity but If more than one descriptor applies in an activity you will be awarded whichever descriptor gives you the most points.
If you can show that a descriptor applies to you for 6 months within a 12 month period you will be awarded the appropriate points.
For a descriptor to apply you must be able to complete the activity as described in the descriptor:
- safely
- to an acceptable standard
- repeatedly; and
- in a reasonable time period.
The term “safely” means in a manner unlikely to cause harm to you or to another person, either during or after completion of the activity
The term “repeatedly” means as often as the activity being assessed is reasonably required to be completed.
When deciding this a decision maker should take into account any pain, breathlessness or tiredness you feel when carrying out an activity.
A decision maker will also take into account any aid or appliance you normally
wear or use or could reasonably be expected to wear or use when assessing your ability to carry out a descriptor.
If you have a fluctuating condition the most appropriate descriptor will be the one which is likely to apply for the greatest proportion of that time.
If you are waiting for further treatment, the descriptor that applies to you will be based on your existing situation rather than based on assumptions about any future improvement in your health.
You can view the legal test for all the activities and descriptors as well as a list of definitions in the appendix at the end of this factsheet.
The entitlement thresholds (pass mark) for the rates and components of the PIP are:
Daily Living component (activities 1 to 10)
Standard rate: 8 points
Enhanced rate: 12 points
Mobility component (activities 11 to12)
Standard rate: 8 points
Enhanced rate: 12 points
How will the activities tests be applied?
In most cases you will be asked to attend a face-to-face consultation with an independent healthcare professional (HCP). At the consultation the HCP looks at your ability to carry out the PIP activities. The HCP will look at your claim form and any medical evidence from your GP or consultant, if you have one. You will be able to take someone with you to the consultation such as a family member or carer.
Following the consultation the HCP will advise a benefit decision maker at the Department for Work and Pensions who will be the one who actually decides if you are entitled to PIP and which component applies. The decision maker will also decide the length of your award and the date when it will be reviewed, based on the likelihood of your health condition or impairment changing.
Depending on your circumstances you may get a short award of up to 2 years or a longer award lasting up to 5 or 10 years. If you are given a longer award you may still be contacted, during this time, to see if your needs have changed.
Two organisations are responsible for carrying out these consultations.
- From April 2013 Atos Healthcare will carry out personal independence assessments in North East England and North West England. From June 2013 they also start to carry out assessments in London, Southern England and Scotland.
- Capita Business Services Ltd will carry out assessments in Central England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Atos will be working in partnership with the NHS, private hospitals and national networks of locally-based health professionals, such as physiotherapists, using their premises and staff to undertake face-to-face consultations.
Capita intend that a large number of consultations will be in claimants’ own homes. You will be able to choose your preferred method of contact and select your appointment time.
The DWP have produced a PIP Assessment Guide: A DWP guidance document for providers carrying out assessments for Personal Independence Payment available at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-assessment-guide.pdf.
Residence and presence tests
In order to claim personal independence normally you must:
- have been present in Great Britain for 104 weeks out of the 156 weeks before claiming (2 out of the last 3 years)
- be habitually resident
Under current benefit rules ‘present’ means physically present in the UK. There are specific rules that may allow you to be treated as present during a temporary absence.
If you are terminally ill you only have to be present in the UK, you do not need to have been present in Great Britain for 104 weeks out of the 156 weeks before claiming.
The habitual residence test is a test to see if you normally live in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Republic of Ireland or the Isle of Man. The test will be applied if you have been living abroad.
There is no legal definition of ‘habitual residence’. Relevant factors are where you normally live, where you expect to live in future, your reasons for coming to this country, the length of time spent abroad before you came here, and any ties you still have with the country where you have come from.
However, the test should not be applied if someone:
- is a European Union national with ‘worker status’, or the ‘right to reside’ (under EC worker legislation); or
- has refugee status; or
- has exceptional leave to remain or enter.
If these do not apply, a decision maker (DM) will decide whether you are habitually resident or not. Get advice if you fail this test.
PIP and DLA
If you are currently receiving disability living allowance (DLA) and you are between the ages of 16 and 64, when PIP is introduced in April 2013, you will be sent a written invitation to claim PIP to see if you satisfy the rules for the new benefit.
If you pass the PIP test you will be awarded it straight away. You will not have to meet the PIP 3 month qualifying period but you will have to satisfy the 9 month test.
There are currently no proposals to migrate you onto PIP if you are a child under 16 or an adult on attendance allowance or over 65 and claiming DLA.
PIP and carer’s allowance
The Government intends that both the daily living components of PIP will act as a passport to carer’s allowance in the same way as the middle and higher rate care component of disability living allowance.
Th Government estimates that ther will be a reduction of 5,000 carers allowance claims, as a result of the introduction of PIP, by October 2015.
PIP and 16 year olds
If you are receiving DLA as a child, from October 2013 your parent/guardian will be sent a letter once you are 15 years and 7 months old telling you about claiming PIP.
If your 16th birthday is before October you will be asked to complete a DLA renewal form instead and be reassessed for PIP at a later date, after October 2013.
PIP and Motability
It is intended that you will be able to qualify for Motability Scheme help if you are receiving the enhanced mobility component of PIP.
Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans
If you are currently serving or have been a member of the Armed Forces previously you may be able to get the Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) instead of PIP.
If you qualify you will be paid £134.40 per week, which is the equivalent of the enhanced rates of the daily living and mobility components of personal independence payment (PIP). Unlike PIP you will not have your AFIP reassessed and your payments will continue even if your circumstances change, e.g. if you have to go into hospital or a care home.
For more information see http://www.veterans-uk.info/welfare_reform.html.
PIP and transport
The DWP will be working with the Department for Transport (DfT) and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to decide how people on PIP will be “passported” to help with transport needs and costs. Currently the higher rate mobility component of DLA is a passport to:
- automatic qualification for a Blue Badge
- eligibility for concessionary travel (free off-peak travel on local buses)
- exemption from road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty)
- the age at which a driver licence can be issued (16 instead of 17)
- exemption from payment for a medical examination for the purpose of obtaining an exemption from wearing seat belts
In England the Government has decided that you will be able to get a Blue Badge if you score 8 points or more under the ‘Moving Around’ activity (see the appendix).
The Government has also stated that when PIP is introduced in April 2013 you will beexempt from road tax if your get the enhanced mobility element of PIP. You can also get a 50 per cent discount on your road tax if you receive the standard mobility element of PIP.
Timetable for the introduction of PIP
Personal independence payment assessment timeline
From 8 April 2013 - An initial pilot of a few thousand new PIP claims in the North West and parts of the North East of England. The postcodes affected are:
BL, CA, CH (except CH1, CH4, CH5, CH6, CH7 and CH8), CW, DH, DL (except DL6, DL7, DL8, DL9, DL10 and DL11), FY, L, LA (except LA2 7, LA2 8, LA6 2 and LA6 3), M, NE, PR, SR, TS (except TS9), WA and WN. No existing DLA claimants will be asked to claim PIP at this point. DLA recipients who wish to claim PIP in advance of being migrated, referred to by the DWP as “self-selectors”, will not be allowed to claim it at this stage.
From June 2013 - New claims to PIP will be taken in all remaining areas of Great Britain. The DWP will not accept new claims for DLA from anyone aged 16-64, unless they are making a renewal claim from a fixed term DLA award which is due to expire before the end of February 2014. These claimants will re-claim DLA, and where entitlement continues will be invited to claim PIP at a later stage.
From October 2013 - The following DLA recipients will begin to be invited to claim PIP:
- Children turning 16 (unless the child is terminally ill)
- People reporting changes of circumstances which would affect their rate of payment (this does not include payability decisions as a result of going into a care home, hospital or prison or other changes of circumstances e.g. change of address). The rate of DLA will not be adjusted;
- Fixed-term DLA award recipients whose award expires from the end of February 2014 (reassessment activity starts approximately 20 weeks before existing DLA awards end); and
- Self-selectors (includes those with indefinite or fixed-term awards).
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 those recipients of DLA 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.
Where can I get more help or information?
The Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 are available at http://tinyurl.com/bvysvwn. The Government has also produced draft Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2013making it a legal requirement for activities and descriptors to be performed to an acceptable standard, safely, repeatedly, and in a reasonable time period. These are available at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-draft-amendment-regs-2013.pdf.
The DWP has produced a resource of standard letter samples used in PIP, available at http://tinyurl.com/d6kjfnb.
Gov UK has an online PIP checker so you can find out how Personal Independence Payment affects you. You can try it out at www.gov.uk/pip-checker.
You can also find out more about PIP and the Welfare Reform Act atwww.disabilityrightsuk.org/welfarereformact.htm.
This factsheet is a basic overview of personal independence payment. You can find out more detailed information in our Disability Rights Handbook available atwww.radar-shop.org.uk/. The handbook contains a fully comprehensive guide to all aspects of the personal independence payment including how it works, tactical advice on how to claim it, appealing a decision and what happens if you are already getting disability living allowance.
Disability Rights UK provides personal independence payment training at our office in London. We can also provide training at a venue provided by you. For more information see www.disabilityrightsuk.org/benefitstraining.htm.
All our publications are available from our shop at www.radar-shop.org.uk/. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Rights UK on 020 7250 3222 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available atwww.disabilityrightsuk.org/factsheets.htm.
Martin Inch
21 February 2013
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Appendix: Daily Living and Mobility Activities and Descriptors
The entitlement thresholds (pass mark) for the rates and components of the PIP are:
Daily Living component (activities 1 to 10)
Standard rate: 8 points
Enhanced rate: 12 points
Mobility component (activities 11 to12)
Standard rate: 8 points
Enhanced rate: 12 points
The activites, descriptors and points listed below are the legal test as laid out in theSocial Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013.
Daily living activities and descriptors##### Activity 1. Preparing food.
a. Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided. – Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal. - Score 2
c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave. - Score 2
d. Needs prompting to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal. - Score 2
e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal. - Score 4
f. Cannot prepare and cook food. – Score 8
Activity 2. Taking nutrition.
a. Can take nutrition unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs either (i) to use an aid or appliance to be able to take nutrition; or
(ii) supervision to be able to take nutrition; or (iii) assistance to be able to cut up food. - Score 2
c. Needs a therapeutic source to be able to take nutrition. - Score 2
d. Needs prompting to be able to take nutrition. - Score 4
e. Needs assistance to be able to manage a therapeutic source to take nutrition. - Score 6
f. Cannot convey food and drink to their mouth and needs another person to do so. Score 10
Activity 3. Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition.
a. Either (i) does not receive medication or therapy or need to monitor a health condition; or (ii) can manage medication or therapy or monitor a health condition unaided. Score 0
b. Needs either (i) to use an aid or appliance to be able to manage medication; or (ii) supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage medication or monitor a health condition. - Score 1
c. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes no more than 3.5 hours a week. - Score 2
d. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 3.5 but no more than 7 hours a week. - Score 4
e. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 7 but no more than 14 hours a week. - Score 6
f. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 14 hours a week. - Score 8
Activity 4. Washing and bathing.
a. Can wash and bathe unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe. - Score 2
c. Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe. - Score 2
d. Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist. - Score 2
e. Needs assistance to be able to get in or out of a bath or shower. - Score 3
f. Needs assistance to be able to wash their body between the shoulders and waist. - Score 4
g. Cannot wash and bathe at all and needs another person to wash their entire body. - Score 8
Activity 5. Managing toilet needs or incontinence.
a. Can manage toilet needs or incontinence unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to manage toilet needs or incontinence. - Score 2
c. Needs supervision or prompting to be able to manage toilet needs. - Score 2
d. Needs assistance to be able to manage toilet needs. - Score 4
e. Needs assistance to be able to manage incontinence of either bladder or bowel. - Score 6
f. Needs assistance to be able to manage incontinence of both bladder and bowel. - Score 8
Activity 6. Dressing and undressing.
a. Can dress and undress unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress. - Score 2
c. Needs either (i) prompting to be able to dress, undress or determine appropriate circumstances for remaining clothed; or (ii) prompting or assistance to be able to select appropriate clothing. - Score 2
d. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their lower body. - Score 2
e. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body. - Score 4
f. Cannot dress or undress at all. Score 8
Activity 7. Communicating verbally.
a. Can express and understand verbal information unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to speak or hear. - Score 2
c. Needs communication support to be able to express or understand complex verbal information. - Score 4
d. Needs communication support to be able to express or understand basic verbal information. - Score 8
e. Cannot express or understand verbal information at all even with communication support. - Score 12
Activity 8. Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words.
a. Can read and understand basic and complex written information either unaided or using spectacles or contact lenses. – Score 0
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance, other than spectacles or contact lenses, to be able to read or understand either basic or complex written information. - Score 2
c. Needs prompting to be able to read or understand complex written information. - Score 2
d. Needs prompting to be able to read or understand basic written information. - Score 4
e. Cannot read or understand signs, symbols or words at all. - Score 8
Activity 9. Engaging with other people face to face.
a. Can engage with other people unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs prompting to be able to engage with other people. - Score 2
c. Needs social support to be able to engage with other people. - Score 4
d. Cannot engage with other people due to such engagement causing either (i) overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant; or (ii) the claimant to exhibit behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to the claimant or another person. - Score 8
Activity 10. Making budgeting decisions.
a. Can manage complex budgeting decisions unaided. – Score 0
b. Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make complex budgeting decisions. - Score 2
c. Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make simple budgeting decisions. - Score 4
d. Cannot make any budgeting decisions at all. - Score 6
Mobility activities and descriptors##### Activity 1. Planning and following journeys.
a. Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided. - Score 0
b. Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. - Score 4
c. Cannot plan the route of a journey. - Score 8
d. Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid. - Score 10
e. Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. - Score 10
f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. - Score 12
Activity 2. Moving around.
a. Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided. - Score 0
b. Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided. - Score 4
c. Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. - Score 8
d. Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. - Score 10
e. Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided. - Score 12
f. Cannot, either aided or unaided, (i) stand; or (ii) move more than 1 metre. - Score 12
Definitions for activities and descriptors
“aided” means with –
(a) the use of an aid or appliance; or
(b) supervision, prompting or assistance;
“assistance” means physical intervention by another person and does not include speech;
“assistance dog” means a dog trained to guide or assist a person with a sensory impairment;
“basic verbal information” means information in your native language conveyed verbally in a simple sentence;
“basic written information” means signs, symbols and dates written or printed standard size text in your native language;
“bathe” includes get into or out of an unadapted bath or shower;
“communication support” means support from a person trained or experienced in communicating with people with specific communication needs, including interpreting verbal information into a non-verbal form and vice versa;
“complex budgeting decisions” means decisions involving–
(a) calculating household and personal budgets;
(b) managing and paying bills; and
(c) planning future purchases;
“complex verbal information” means information in your native language conveyed verbally in either more than one sentence or one complicated sentence;
“complex written information” means more than one sentence of written or printed standard size text in your native language;
“cook” means heat food at or above waist height;
“dress and undress” includes put on and take off socks and shoes;
“engage socially” means–
(a) interact with others in a contextually and socially appropriate manner;
(b) understand body language; and
(c) establish relationships;
“manage incontinence” means manage involuntary evacuation of the bowel or bladder, including use a collecting device or self-catheterisation, and clean oneself afterwards;
“manage medication or therapy” means take medication or undertake therapy, where a failure to do so is likely to result in a deterioration in your health;
“medication” means medication to be taken at home which is prescribed or recommended by a registered –
(a) doctor;
(b) nurse; or
(c) pharmacist;
“monitor health” means–
(a) detect significant changes in your health condition which are likely to lead to a deterioration in your health; and
(b) take action advised by a–
(i) registered doctor;
(ii) registered nurse; or
(iii) health professional who is regulated by the Health Professions Council,
without which your health is likely to deteriorate;
“orientation aid” means a specialist aid designed to assist disabled people to follow a route safely;
“prepare”, in the context of food, means make food ready for cooking or eating;
“prompting” means reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person;
“psychological distress” means distress related to an enduring mental health condition or an intellectual or cognitive impairment;
“read” includes read signs, symbols and words but does not include read Braille;
“simple budgeting decisions” means decisions involving–
(a) calculating the cost of goods; and
(b) calculating change required after a purchase;
“simple meal” means a cooked one-course meal for one using fresh ingredients;
“social support” means support from a person trained or experienced in assisting people to engage in social situations;
“stand” means stand upright with at least one biological foot on the ground;
“supervision” means the continuous presence of another person for the purpose of ensuring your safety;
“take nutrition” means–
(a) cut food into pieces, convey food and drink to one’s mouth and chew and swallow food and drink; or
(b) take nutrition by using a therapeutic source;
“therapeutic source” means parenteral or enteral tube feeding, using a rate-limiting device such as a delivery system or feed pump;
“therapy” means therapy to be undertaken at home which is prescribed or recommended by a—
(a) registered–
(i) doctor;
(ii) nurse; or
(iii) pharmacist; or
(b) health professional regulated by the Health Professions Council;
“toilet needs” means–
(a) getting on and off an unadapted toilet;
(b) evacuating the bladder and bowel; and
(c) cleaning oneself afterwards; and
“unaided” means without–
(a) the use of an aid or appliance; or
(b) supervision, prompting or assistance.
All of this information can also be reviewed at http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/f60.htm
Hoping this is of some use to people who are having difficulty with there claim for DLA/PIP payments, I have just been through the process of claiming this benefit for a friend of mine who I care for and we have been through the reconsideration process and Appeals process by attending the Tribunal System