Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is made of two components, namely.

• Mobility Component
• Daily Living Component

Each Personal Independence Payment (PIP) component is paid either at standard rate or enhanced rate and it is based on the circumstances and intensity of the disability. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) replaced the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) system so the components of DLA were related to the components of DLA in one way or the other.

You can claim your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) by contacting Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) department either by telephone, post, text relay or video relay, however process of claiming your PIP is a long process and at times it takes up to 4 months from the time you have started your application process to the time you have got your benefit.

Personal Independence Payment Claim process can be divided in three stages:

1. Contacting DWP: The very first step towards claiming your PIP is to contact the Department of Work and Pensions. You can contact them either by calling them on their telephone numbers, or sending them a post with your details, or sending them a text/video relay. While you contact them through any of the medium, you need to have certain details handy by your side, such as:
   1. Your full name, address and phone number.
   2. Your National Insurance Number
   3. Your Account Details
   4. Contact details of your General Practitioner or any doctor you are consulting with.
   5. Details of your stay(s) in the health care or hospitals
   6. Your nationality status
   7. If you have been abroad for more than 4 weeks at a stretch in the last 3 years.
   8. If you have any learning difficulty, behavioral conditions or any condition related to mental health.
2. In case, you are contacting DWP via Telephone: In this case, you have to call on their PIP Claim Line either directly or in case you are facing any difficulty in making a telephone call yourself, you can seek assistance. However, it is advisable for you to be present there when the call is being made.

Personal Independence Payment Claim Contact Number

3. In case you are contacting DWP via Post : Telephone is a faster way of contacting DWP, however if you are not in a condition to do so, you can write to them to send you the required claim forms along with the valid reason for not using the telephone service.

You can write to them on the below address:

Personal Independence Payment New Claims

Post Handling Site B

Wolverhampton

WV99 1AH

In case you are contacting DWP via Text Relay: In case you cannot talk or hear on the telephone, you can use DWP’s Next Generation Text Relay Service.

For their NGT Service:

Dial: 18001 then 0800 917 2222

Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm

Call charges for NGT service depends on whether you are using a landline or a mobile, your service provider.

In case, you are contacting DWP via Video Relay: Video Relay Service is also called British Sign Language (BSL) and you can use this service if you cannot hear. In this case, you will be connected to an interpreter by a video link who will relay your message to the DWP adviser. For this service, you must first check if you can use this service and then go to the video relay service. This facility is open from Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm.

4. Fill in the claim form sent by DWP: After you have contacted DWP, they will send you a PIP Claim form, also called “How your disability affects you” form. You can request DWP to send you the same in an alternative format such as CD, Large Print or Braille. You can take help in filling up the form and once it's filled, you have to post this form at the address mentioned on the form itself.

5. Face to Face Assessment: Once DWP receives your filled form, the next step will be to assess the level of help in terms of daily living and mobility, that you need and in order to do the same, you will either be invited for a face to face meeting or a representative will connect with your doctor for the information/details of your condition. In case you are invited for a face to face meeting, you will be asked questions related to your condition and level/type of difficulty you are facing in your day to day life. This meeting could either be at your home or at an assessment centre and might go on for an hour or so.

While you are in a face to face meeting, you should explain your difficulty level in detail for the DWP representative to understand it completely. Because, you get PIP for the help or intensity of your medical condition, not for having a medical condition. In case there is a variation in your condition, you should tell the DWP representative about both your good and bad days and give him a detailed description of your condition and its effects on you over a considerable period of time. Your description of your medical condition and DWP’s understanding of it should not be restricted to your condition during the consultation period.

Once your face to face consultation gets over, the DWP representative will complete his report with all required details and send it to DWP Case Manager, who will then decide if you are eligible for PIP and how much and at what PIP should be rewarded to you and for how long. In case, your claim gets through but you are not happy with the awarded amount, you can challenge the decision by either submitting your request at DWP to reconsider your case or by submitting a formal appeal.

In case you are terminally ill, In case you are terminally ill and you are not expected to live more than 6 months, you can get your PIP claim faster than in any other case, provided you start with your application process well in time. To contact DWP, you can either call DWP by telephone or use Video Relay Service. In this case, you don’t have to appear for any face to face consultation and either your doctor or any other healthcare professional can fill up the form on your behalf and send it to DWP directly. In case there is any change in your circumstances, you have to keep DWP posted about it to avoid any delay during your PIP claim. You can contact the PIP enquiry line in case:

6. There is any change in your personal details like name, address or doctor.

7. Any change in the level of help you need, whether for good or bad.

8. You go into a hospital or a care home.

9. You go abroad.

10. You are imprisoned or held in detention.

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