To get PIP you must be aged 16 to State Pension Age
If you claim PIP prior to pension age you can remain on it.
You must satisfy (waiting period) 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 may not have to wait 3 months from the date of the claim if you can show your needs arose prior to the date of claim. DLA claimants will not have to wait 3 months for an award but must show that their condition is likely to remain for a further 9 months.
There are 2 components: a daily living component and a mobility component. Both components have two rates, a standard rate, and an enhanced rate. Unlike DLA there is no lower rate in the daily living category.
Residence and presence conditions
You must:
- not be subject to immigration control
- be habitually resident and have been present in Great Britain for 2 of the past 3 years prior to claiming
This can be a hard test to satisfy and if you are in doubt about your right to live in the UK or if you have lived abroad recently you may need expert advice.
These conditions also apply to Attendance Allowance and DLA for children from April 2013.
The residency test does not apply to refugees, if they meet the disability criteria they are able to apply straight away but the waiting period above still applies.
The consultation
Once you have completed the questionnaire (PIP2) and returned it, most people will be invited to participate in a consultation with a healthcare professional.
This could be by phone or face to face, usually in an assessment centre or occasionally in your own home.
A copy of the questionnaire will be given to the healthcare professional. This could be a doctor, but it might be a physiotherapist, a nurse or CPN.
You should be notified 7 days in advance of this consultation. This can be via a letter or via an email or text if you have agreed.
If you don’t attend the consultation or return the questionnaire your claim could be stopped unless you can show you had ‘good reason’ why you did not attend. If you need to alter the time of the assessment you must contact Independent Assessment Services, who carry out the assessments on behalf of the DWP, on 0800 188 4881.
You can take a friend or family member with you to the consultation for support. You can also request that the interview is recorded. The assessment starts as soon as you enter the building, and you may not always be seen at the time you were expecting. The report is sent to DWP and a decision maker will decide whether to award based on all the evidence that has been sent in.
If you are not able to get to an assessment centre, you must provide evidence to support why you could not attend. They may accept that you need to be assessed at home. It would be helpful to get a letter from you doctor confirming your difficulties or your need for a home visit. The assessment centre has to be within 90 minutes of where you live, and you can claim travel costs if you have asked for them in advance.
The assessment
The assessment looks at whether your ability to carry out daily living activities, mobility activities or both is ‘limited’ or ‘severely limited’ by your physical or mental condition.
Choosing the right descriptor within each activity
You choose the descriptor that applies to you most of the time; if more than one descriptor applies you must decide which one applies the most.
For example if a) applies 40% of the time and c) applies 30% of the time, you choose descriptor a).
You can only apply one descriptor from each activity but the score from each activity can be added together to give an overall score.
In deciding whether a descriptor applies you should consider whether the activity can be done:
- safely
- to an acceptable standard
- repeatedly
- in a reasonable time
For an award in either component you need to score a minimum of 8. A score of 8 will mean an award at the standard rate, a score of 12 or more, you will get the enhanced rate.
Daily Living Component
Standard rate - £61.85
Enhanced rate - £92.30
Mobility Component
Standard rate - £24.45
Enhanced rate - £64.50
There will be no automatic entitlement to PIP - everyone will be assessed on their personal circumstances.
The only exception is for people who are terminally ill and who are not expected to live for more than 12 months. The DWP will deal with these claims quickly and the person will not need a consultation, or to fulfil the three-month waiting period. They will receive the enhanced rate of the daily living component straightaway but will still have to qualify for the mobility component.
People with a lifetime award of DLA who are of working age will still need to be reassessed under PIP.