A guide for claiming Personal Independence Payment, the different stages of the claim process and what to expect
Getting a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decision
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will make a decision on your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim after the medical assessment has been completed.
The DWP’s decision about your PIP entitlement is based on the information in:
- Your claim form
- The documents you sent with your claim form
- The health professional’s notes from the medical assessment.
On average, it takes the DWP 20weeks from the date you started your claim to make a decision. Some claims take less time; some take more.
Decision letter
The DWP will send you a letter to tell you their decision. The letter confirms whether you will get PIP, which PIP components you get and which rate, and the amount of points you score in the PIP test.
Keep the letter in a safe place. You may need to give people a copy when you claim other benefits. You may want to show it to an adviser if you disagree with the decision.
If you disagree with the decision, you have one month from the date you received the letter to challenge it. You can only challenge the decision after one month if you have a good reason for challenging it late.
You can read more about challenging a PIP decision in our Challenging a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decision guide or you can look for an adviser near you using our Find an Adviser tool.
Qualify for PIP
To qualify for PIP, you have to score enough points on the PIP test for daily living or mobility (or both).
If you score between eight and 11 points for the daily living activities, you get the standard rate of the daily living component. If you score 12 or more points, or you are terminally ill, you get the enhanced rate of the daily living component.
If you score between eight and 11 points for the mobility activities, you get the standard rate of the mobility component. If you score 12 or more points, you get the enhanced rate of the mobility component.
Check the decision
If you’re not sure how many points that you should have scored, you can look at our Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Test guide or do the PIP self test on the Benefits and Work website.
Reviewed: February 2023
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