20 March 2023 , 11:55
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Brits with certain medical conditions are able to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and some could receive up to £172 every week.
PIP is given to those with long-term mental or physical health problems or disabilities; around three million people currently claim it in the UK.
If eligible to claim, the amount you get depends on how your condition affects your daily life.
The disability benefit, first introduced in 2013, is made up of two components - a daily living rate and a mobility rate - and you can be entitled to both or just one of these.
These components are then split again, into the standard rate and the enhanced rate.
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If you are awarded the enhanced rate of both components, from April you could get paid £172.75 every week.
How much does PIP pay?
Like other Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits, the amount of PIP you can get paid will rise by 10.1% next month.
From April 2023, the rates will be:
Daily living component
- Standard weekly rate - £68.10
- Enhanced weekly rate - £101.75
Mobility component
- Standard weekly rate - £26.90
- Enhanced weekly rate - £71
According to DWP data, 35%, or one in three cases of PIP claimants, receive the highest level of benefit.
In addition, those on PIP will automatically qualify for the new Universal Credit "health element" announced in the Chancellor's Budget last week.
This top-up will replace Universal Credit's existing Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) amount, which currently pays £354.28 on top of the standard allowance, which is rising to £390.06 from April 2023.
However, these reforms would come in by 2026 at the earliest.
What medical conditions make you eligible for PIP?
There is no official list of conditions which will get you PIP as the benefit is based on how a condition or disability affects your ability to conduct daily tasks.
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Everyday tasks include things like washing, dressing, going food shopping, and making decisions about money.
The DWP have a points system on which they base claims and this usually requires a medical assessment.
In your medical assessment, you should score points if you can’t do things:
- Safely
- In a reasonable time
- To a reasonable standard
- As often as is needed
So if you can show you can cook but it isn't safe to do so because your concentration is poor that you often forget things or your ability to hold a pan is compromised then you may score points.
Every successful PIP claim is recorded by the DWP and put under one of over 500 health conditions depending on which one the DWP think is your main source of "points".
The top 30 conditions among PIP claimants in England, which has 2.5million claims, according to the latest data include:
- Anxiety and depressive disorders (mixed) - 226,939
- Primary generalised Osteoarthritis - 138,384
- Learning disability - 127,533
- Fibromyalgia - 105,063
- Autism - 99,290
- Back pain (specific) - 82,318
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) chronic bronchitis/emphysema - 73,670
- Schizophrenia - 70,586
- Rheumatoid arthritis - 61,347
- Cerebrovascular accident (stroke) - 55,642
- Inflammatory arthritis - 54,480
- Depressive disorder - 50,141
- Multiple sclerosis - 47,322
- Bipolar affective disorder (Hypomania / Mania) - 42,893
- Personality disorder - 39,162
- ADHD / ADD - 38,668
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - 34,045
- Back pain - Non specific (mechanical) - 33,379
- Osteoarthritis of knee - 30,233
- Lumbar disc lesion - 26,717
- Asperger syndrome - 26,677
- Seizures - 26,035
- Specific learning disorder - 21,919
- Psychotic disorders - 20,982
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - 20,051
- Down's syndrome - 19,209
- Asthma - 18,067
- Cerebral palsy - 17,498
- Breast cancer - 16,435
- Lumbar spondylosis - 15,103
According to the Benefits and Work Guides company, the overall average success rate for PIP claims is 52%.
You can find the success rate of each condition on the Benefits and Work Guide's website here.
The DWP update their statistics every three months and the table is based on the February 2023 figures.
How to claim PIP
You can get PIP if all of the following apply to you:
- you’re 16 or over
- you have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability
- you have difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around
- you expect the difficulties to last for at least 12 months from when they started
If you believe you're eligible, you must call the PIP claim line on 0800 917 2222 between Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm.
You will need to have your contact number, date of birth, National Insurance number, and your bank or building society account number and sort code.
You will then be sent a form which you will need to complete and return, alongside this form disability charities also advise you to include evidence about your condition.
This could be a letter/report from your healthcare provider like a GP, psychiatrist, consultant, or specialist nurse.
Once you have completed the form, you then may need to complete the medical assessment.
You will be contacted by the DWP to arrange the medical assessment and this could be conducted in person, over the phone, or through a video call.
It can take up to six months from when you first contact the DWP to when you get your first payment.