The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says it may stop or reduce Personal Independence Payments (PIP) in certain situations. PIP claimants should be aware of key life changes they’ll need to report to the Department, to avoid risking losing financial support.
You’re safe if you’ve changed your name, switched doctors, swapped healthcare professionals, or moved house – these alterations won’t affect your PIP payments or award. But if you’re thinking of escaping UK shores for more than four weeks, your PIP entitlement might be on the line.
Guidance in the latest edition of the PIP handbook reads: “This change may affect the claimant’s entitlement to PIP. We will need to know the date the claimant is leaving the country, how long they are planning to be out of the country, which country they are going to and why they are going abroad.”
You’ll also need to contact the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) enquiry line straight away if:
- 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 could get PIP at a higher rate under ‘special rules for end of life’)
- 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 4 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
DWP guidance adds: “These changes can affect your PIP award. Depending on the change, your PIP could go up, go down, stay the same or stop.” For more information, visit GOV.UK
