PIP and cost of living payment eligibility explained - see if you qualify

07 May 2023 , 06:00

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PIP is based on how a health condition affects your life (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit to help working age adults living with an illness, disability or mental health condition.

PIP 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.

The decision to award you PIP is based on how your condition affects your life, rather than the illness itself.

If you’re successful in your claim, you could get between £26.90 and £172.75 per week.

PIP isn’t means-tested so it doesn’t matter how much you’re earning, or how much you have in savings.

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But do you become eligible for a cost of living payment if you’re claiming PIP? We explain.

I claim PIP - do I qualify for a cost of living payment?

Yes, if you claim PIP then you should receive a £150 disability cost of living payment.

This is being made available to those who claim the following benefits during a qualifying period:

• Attendance Allowance

• Constant Attendance Allowance

• Disability Living Allowance for adults

• Disability Living Allowance for children

• Personal Independence Payment

• Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)

• Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)

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• Armed Forces Independence Payment

• War Pension Mobility Supplement

The qualifying period for when you need to be claiming one of these benefits by has not yet been confirmed.

The date for when the £150 will be sent has also not been revealed yet - although it will be sometime this summer.

Payments will be made to people getting a qualifying disability benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) first, followed by those claiming Ministry of Defence (MoD) benefits.

The money will be paid automatically into your bank account, meaning you won't need to claim it.

The cash is also not taxable and will not affect any benefits or tax credits you get.

Six million people received the £150 disability cost of living payment last year.

PIP - what you need to know

PIP 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.

You will be paid the following amounts per week depending on your circumstances:

Daily living

• Lower rate: £68.10

• Higher rate: £101.75

Mobility

• Lower rate: £26.90

• Higher rate: £71

PIP is available if you are aged 16 and over and you have a long-term physical or mental illness, or disability.

Most people can’t make a new claim for PIP after they reach State Pension age.

To be eligible, it is normally expected that your health difficulties will last for at least 12 months from when they started.

If you are awarded PIP, your claim will last for a set period of time before it is reviewed - normally any time from one year, to ten years.

PIP applicants are usually assessed by a health professional to see how their condition affects daily living and mobility.

You might get the daily living part of PIP if you need help with:

• Eating, drinking or preparing food
• Washing, bathing and using the toilet
• Dressing and undressing
• Reading and communicating
• Managing your medicines or treatments
• Making decisions about money
• Socialising and being around other people

You might get the mobility part of PIP if you need help with:

• Working out a route and following it
• Physically moving around
• Leaving your home

There are different rules if you are terminally ill - see the Gov.uk website for more information.

PIP is usually paid directly to your bank account every four weeks unless you are terminally ill, in which case it can be paid weekly.

Levi Winchester