Your PIP award is normally reviewed by the DWP – but if your condition changes in the meantime, then it is your responsible to notify the benefits department
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit designed to help people with a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
It is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is worth up to £737.20 every four weeks. You normally need to undertake a health assessment when you apply for PIP, where you’ll be assessed based on how your condition affects your daily living and mobility tasks.
This is because PIP is awarded based on how your condition affects your day-to-day life, rather than being awarded based on just having an illness or disability. If you’re deemed eligible for PIP, your award will normally be reviewed by the DWP – but if your condition changes in the meantime, then it is your responsible to notify the benefits department.
According to GOV.UK, you need to report the following changes:
- You need more or less help with daily living and mobility tasks
- Your health professional tells you that your condition will last for a longer or shorter time than you reported before
- A medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live
- You go into a hospital, a hospice, a nursing home or a care home
- You go into a residential school or college
- You go into foster care or into the care of a local authority or health and social care trust
- You’re imprisoned or held in detention
- You plan to go abroad for more than four weeks
- Your immigration status changes and you’re not a British or Irish citizen
- You start or stop getting pensions or benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
- Your husband, wife, civil partner or a parent you depend on starts or stops getting benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
You must also contact the PIP enquiry line if your personal details change, for example your name, address, phone numbers, bank account or doctor, or if someone is acting on your behalf and that person changes. You can contact the PIP enquiry line on 0800 121 4433, or 0800 121 4493 for textphone. The number for Relay UK is 18001 then 0800 121 4433. There is also a British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service.
PIP comes in two different parts. There is the daily living rate, which is currently worth £72.65 a week for the lower level, or £108.55 a week for the higher rate. The mobility rate for PIP is worth £28.70 a week for the lower level, and £75.75 a week for the higher level. You could be entitled to one, or both, of the daily living and mobility rates.
