Personal Independence Payment, in short PIP, is a welfare benefit scheme introduced by the United Kingdom government and the main intention of it is to provide extra financial support to adults who are fighting with long term health-related issues or disabilities. It is a non-contributory and non-means-tested benefit, which means the government will not conduct any ‘means test’ to judge whether a person is eligible to get the benefits of PIP or not. One can also get information related to PIP by contacting the respective authority by dialing the PIP number.
Eligibility for PIP:
There are a few conditions that you need to meet to apply for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
- PIP benefits do not cover children below 16. People aged more than sixteen can apply for PIP irrespective of their income or social status.
- After 31st May 2019, as per a new regulation, people who have reached the state pension age, cannot be eligible to apply for PIP.
- You can only apply for PIP if you need assistance to do regular works because of some illness or disability. Moreover, you have to need this assistance for a minimum of three months and expect to require this for a minimum of nine more months.
- Only if you are incurably sick and have less than six months to live, then the above criteria will not be applied.
PIP rates:
PIP has two main sections. One is the daily living component and another one is the mobility component.
The daily living component:
The daily living component could be paid if a person needs assistance to do daily activities such as preparing food, washing clothes, or facing problem to read or communicate with others. There are two ways to pay the daily living component, and you can choose any one of them. One is the standard rate and the other one is the enhanced rate. While the current standard weekly rate is £58.70, the weekly rate for the enhanced rate is £87.65.
The mobility component:
You may get the mobility component if you require help to move around or go out. Like daily living component, mobility component is paid through one of two rates; standard or enhanced. The current standard weekly rate for mobility component is £23.20, and for enhanced rate, it is £61.20. You can exchange the enhanced rate of your mobility component with a scooter or other vehicle under the ‘Motability Scheme’.
Process of claiming PIP:
In general, the claiming process for PIP starts when you dial the specific PIP number of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). But after that, in most cases, applicants had to go through an assessment process to show their suitability. PIP payment amount differs on the basis of the applicant’s severity of illness or disability, rated through certain tests. Along with that, even after receiving the PIP benefit, a person may have to appear for periodic re-assessment trials to justify their benefit. You can either avail PIP benefits for the short-term, i.e, 2 years, or for longer terms such as 5 or 10 years, based on the criticality of your illness or disability.