Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a UK benefit designed to help individuals with long-term physical or mental health conditions or disabilities manage their daily living costs. It provides financial support to those who experience difficulties with everyday tasks and mobility as a result of their condition. This guide explains what PIP is, how it works, and who is eligible to claim.
Breaking Down PIP: Daily Living and Mobility Components
PIP is structured into two parts, catering to different needs arising from long-term health conditions:
Daily Living Part
The daily living component of PIP is for individuals who require assistance with everyday tasks. These tasks include:
- Preparing Food: This could range from needing help to chop vegetables to requiring assistance with cooking a full meal.
- Eating and Drinking: Difficulties might include needing adapted cutlery or help with feeding.
- Managing Medicines or Treatments: This covers assistance with remembering to take medication, administering treatments, or understanding complex medical regimes.
- Washing and Bathing: Needing help to get in and out of the bath or shower, or assistance with washing oneself.
- Using the Toilet: This could involve needing help to get on and off the toilet or manage continence needs.
- Dressing and Undressing: Difficulties with buttons, zips, or reaching parts of the body to dress.
- Reading: Needing aids to read, or help understanding written information.
- Managing Money: Difficulties with budgeting, paying bills, or making financial decisions.
- Socialising and Being Around Other People: Needing support to engage in social situations due to anxiety or other conditions.
- Talking, Listening, and Understanding: Difficulties with communication, understanding speech, or expressing oneself.
Mobility Part
The mobility part of PIP is for those who need help with getting around. This isn’t solely for physical disabilities; it also recognises the impact of cognitive and mental health conditions on mobility. This component considers difficulties with:
- Working out and Following a Route: This includes cognitive aspects of planning a journey and navigating, as well as physical difficulties.
- Physically Moving Around: Challenges with walking, balance, or using mobility aids.
- Leaving Your Home: Anxiety or other conditions that make leaving the house difficult can be considered.
It’s important to note that you can be eligible for either one or both parts of PIP, depending on the severity of your difficulties in each area. The amount you receive from PIP also depends on the level of support you need with daily living and mobility tasks.
Who is Eligible for PIP?
To be eligible for PIP, you must meet certain criteria. You need to have:
- A long-term physical or mental health condition or disability: This means the condition has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12 months.
- Difficulties with daily living tasks or getting around: These difficulties must be a result of your long-term condition.
Crucially, PIP is not dependent on your employment status, savings, or most other benefits you may be receiving. You can still claim PIP if you are working or have savings.
How is PIP Eligibility Assessed?
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for assessing PIP eligibility. The assessment focuses on how your condition impacts your ability to carry out daily living and mobility tasks. For each task, the DWP will consider:
- Safety: Can you perform the task safely?
- Time: How long does it take you to complete the task compared to someone without your condition?
- Frequency: How often does your condition affect your ability to perform the task?
- Help Required: Do you need assistance from another person or assistive equipment to complete the task?
If you have substantial caring needs, your carer may also be eligible for Carer’s Allowance.
PIP, Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in Scotland, and Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
It’s important to understand how PIP interacts with similar benefits in different parts of the UK and legacy benefits:
- Scotland: In Scotland, PIP is being replaced by Adult Disability Payment (ADP). New applications in Scotland should be made for ADP, not PIP. If you currently receive PIP and live in Scotland, you will be automatically transferred to ADP by Spring 2025.
- Moving Between Scotland and England/Wales: If you receive ADP and move to England or Wales, your ADP will stop after 13 weeks. You will need to make a new claim for PIP in England or Wales.
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA): DLA is an older benefit being replaced by PIP for most adults. You will continue to receive DLA if you were under 16 or born on or before 8 April 1948. For those born after this date, the DWP will invite you to apply for PIP when your DLA is reviewed.
Need Help with PIP?
If you require assistance understanding PIP or with the application process, numerous resources are available online and through advice services. It is recommended to seek support if you find the process challenging.
Understanding “What Is Pip” is the first step in accessing potential financial support. If you believe you may be eligible, further research into the application process and eligibility criteria is recommended on the official UK government website, GOV.UK.
