To make a new claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) you must be aged between 16 years old and State Pension age. It has two components, a daily living component and a mobility component, and each component has a standard and enhanced rate. Your needs are assessed to find out which rate you qualify for. You might be eligible to get one or both components.
The assessment looks at what help you need to do specific daily living activities, like getting dressed, preparing and eating a meal, bathing and going to the toilet, because of your condition. The assessment also covers communication, understanding and engaging with others. The mobility part of the assessment covers not just moving around but also planning and following journeys. Points are awarded for each activity or ‘descriptor’ on a sliding scale, from being able to carry out the activity unaided, right up to not being able to do it even with assistance, supervision or prompting by another person. The points are then totalled to see if you qualify for PIP and if so, which component/s and rate/s.
You must have had these care and/or mobility needs for at least three months and expect them to continue for at least another nine months. If you claim before having the needs for three months, an award can be made and start up to three months after the decision, depending on how early you made the claim.
Personal Independence Payment can be claimed even if you are a student or working and it is not means-tested, which means your income and savings are ignored when checking if you are entitled to this benefit. It is also ignored as income when calculating entitlement to other benefits so it won’t reduce any other benefits you get. In fact, if you get Personal Independence Payment you could qualify for extra amounts called disability premiums in some other benefits. It is always worth doing a new benefit check if you become entitled to Personal Independence Payment.
The daily living component is paid at either a standard weekly rate of £72.65 or an enhanced weekly rate of £108.55.
The mobility component is paid at either a standard weekly rate of £28.70 or an enhanced weekly rate of £75.75.
You need to call the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 0800 917 2222, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, to make a new Personal Independence Payment claim.
You will be asked to provide the following details:
- Your contact details.
- Your date of birth.
- Your National Insurance number.
- 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.
You will then be sent a form to fill in to assess your needs and if more information is needed you might be invited to have an assessment with a health professional.
Full details about the claiming process can be found on th GOV.UK Personal Independence Payment webpage.
If you are in Northern Ireland, to start your claim you need to call the Personal Independence Payment Centre on 0800 012 1573, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.
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