Personal Independence Payment Explained: 2026-27 Rates, Who Qualifies and How to Claim
- 🔑 PIP pays between £30.30 and £194.60 a week in 2026-27 in England and Wales: daily living £76.70 or £114.60, mobility £30.30 or £80.00. It is tax free, usually paid every four weeks and not affected by income or savings. Rates rose about 3.8% from April 2026.
- You can usually claim from age 16 until State Pension age if a long-term condition makes everyday tasks or getting around difficult and you expect that to last 12 months. Scotland uses Adult Disability Payment instead, and Northern Ireland has its own separate PIP route, so this guide covers England and Wales only.
- Awards turn on points across 12 activities, ten for daily living and two for mobility. Each part is scored separately: at least 8 points gets the standard rate and at least 12 the enhanced rate. Daily living and mobility points are not added together, so one part can be awarded without the other.
- Claim by phone on 0800 917 2222 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm) or by post to Freepost DWP PIP 1, then return the How your disability affects you form within one month. A full online claim is open only in some areas. Supporting evidence such as care plans is optional.
- If you disagree with a decision, ask for a free mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the decision date. An appeal to the tribunal usually has to follow within one month of the reconsideration notice. DWP looks at the whole claim again, so an award can go up, down or stay the same.
- Nothing has changed for current claimants. The Timms Review of PIP published an interim report on 9 July 2026 and non-final emerging recommendations on 9 September. GOV.UK says the final report is due in autumn 2026, reported as late November. Reports of possible changes are options, not announced policy.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a tax-free benefit worth £30.30 to £194.60 a week in 2026-27 for adults in England and Wales whose long-term health condition or disability makes everyday tasks or getting around harder. It is not means tested, and this guide, pinned as of Saturday 3 October 2026, is information rather than advice.
How much is PIP in 2026-27?
PIP has a daily living part and a mobility part, each paid at a standard or enhanced weekly rate, and the most anyone can get in 2026-27 is £194.60 a week. GOV.UK calls the rates lower and higher.
| Part | Standard | Enhanced |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living | £76.70 | £114.60 |
| Mobility | £30.30 | £80.00 |
Last year’s rates were £73.90, £110.40, £29.20 and £77.05, so each rose about 3.8%. The maximum is £778.40 per four-week payment, and regional headlines giving about £187 a week use the 2025-26 figure. PIP is usually paid every four weeks, is tax free and is not affected by income or savings; if a payment date falls on a bank holiday you are usually paid before it, as our bank holiday payments piece shows.
Who can claim PIP?
You can usually claim if you are 16 or over, have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability that makes everyday tasks or getting around difficult, and expect that to last at least 12 months. For a new claim you usually also need to be under State Pension age, unless you had PIP or Adult Disability Payment in the last 12 months. You usually need to have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for two of the last three years and be living in England or Wales when you apply, and immigration rules apply to non-British citizens. Working, savings and most other benefits do not stop you claiming.
Does PIP apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
No, this guide covers England and Wales only. Scotland uses Adult Disability Payment from Social Security Scotland, and Northern Ireland has its own separate PIP route through the Department for Communities, explained on nidirect. We give no Northern Ireland rates or numbers.
How does PIP decide who gets what?
PIP scores how your condition affects 12 activities, ten for daily living and two for mobility, and counts each part separately. Under regulations 5 and 6 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, at least 8 points in a part earns its standard rate and at least 12 the enhanced rate, and the two parts’ points are not added together. GOV.UK says assessors consider whether you can do a task safely, how long it takes and whether you need help, and the difficulty must apply on more than half the days over 12 months. We describe the process and do not coach; Citizens Advice can help with your own claim.
How do you claim PIP?
You start a claim by phoning 0800 917 2222 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm) or writing to Freepost DWP PIP 1, then completing a form called How your disability affects you. Relay UK users dial 18001 first; from abroad call +44 191 218 7766. A full online application is open only in some areas, checked by postcode. On the call you give basic details: contact details, date of birth, National Insurance number if you have one, bank details, your doctor’s or health worker’s details, hospital or care home stays and trips abroad of over four weeks. These are details to have to hand, not documents to send. The form arrives as an emailed link or on paper and should be returned within one month; contact the PIP enquiry line, 0800 121 4433, if you need more time. Supporting evidence such as care plans is optional.
What happens at an assessment, and how long does a claim take?
If more information is needed you may be invited to an assessment, at a centre, at home, by phone or by video, and it usually takes about an hour. You can bring someone with you, and the audio is recorded unless you ask the assessment provider not to. A first award runs between nine months and 10 years. DWP statistics published on 15 September 2026 put new-claim clearance at 18 weeks from registration to decision in July 2026, against 15 weeks a year earlier.
What if you disagree with a PIP decision?
You can ask for a free mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the date on your decision letter. You can ask later with a good reason, such as a hospital stay or bereavement. The DWP looks at your whole claim again, so the award can stay the same, rise, fall or stop. Once you have the reconsideration notice you can appeal to the independent tribunal, usually within one month of that notice’s date.
How do reviews and changes of circumstances work?
PIP continues while a review is under way, and you must tell the DWP straight away if things change. You return a review form within one month, and the award can be increased, reduced or stopped. Report changes on the PIP enquiry line (0800 121 4433, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm), such as needing more or less help, a hospital or care home stay or going abroad for over four weeks; late or wrong reporting can mean a penalty or repayment.
Is there a faster route near the end of life?
Yes: the special rules for end of life need no face-to-face assessment and automatically give the higher daily living rate of £114.60 a week. They apply if a medical professional says you might have 12 months or less to live: call 0800 917 2222, ask for a special rules claim, and a medical professional completes form SR1. Mobility, £30.30 or £80.00, depends on your needs.
What is the Timms Review, and has anything changed for claimants?
Nothing has changed for current claimants: the Timms Review of PIP is still under way, and the rates and rules above are those in force as of 3 October 2026. The review is co-chaired by Sir Stephen Timms, the Minister for Social Security and Disability. Its interim report of 9 July 2026 said PIP is widely valued but no longer fit for purpose, and made no recommendations. On 9 September it published emerging recommendations, which it says are not final, including fewer award reviews for lifelong or degenerative conditions and principles for a possible reformed benefit with cash as its foundation and some awards also including services. GOV.UK says the final report is due in autumn 2026; a trade-press report of a 1 October interview with Sir Stephen says late November, with decisions resting with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden. Press reports in early October discussed possible changes, including for younger claimants. Those are reported options, not announced policy, we found no official announcement, and we do not forecast what follows.
Is there a new PIP medical evidence rule in October 2026?
No: headlines about an October 2026 PIP medical evidence change refer to updated GOV.UK guidance for healthcare professionals, not a new rule for claimants. The guidance on DWP factual medical reports was updated on 1 October 2026, with a change note about a revised fee and form references; we found nothing describing a change to who qualifies or how to claim.
What should you check before acting on this guide?
Check anything about your own claim with GOV.UK or the DWP lines above, because this guide cannot say whether you would qualify. Use only contact details listed on GOV.UK and treat unexpected messages offering to claim PIP for you with caution. State Pension age decides who can make a new claim, so see our guide to the 2026-27 pension changes .
How we verified this
This is information, not advice. It sets out published rates and rules. It does not decide whether any person qualifies for PIP or how a claim would be scored.
Rates, eligibility, claiming, assessment, review, change-of-circumstances and end-of-life rules were read from GOV.UK’s own PIP guide pages on 3 October 2026. The 2026-27 weekly rates were cross-checked against the DWP’s benefit and pension rates policy paper, updated 16 February 2026, which prints 2025-26 and 2026-27 side by side. The £778.40 four-week maximum and the 3.8% rise are our arithmetic from those figures. The mandatory reconsideration and appeal time limits come from GOV.UK’s mandatory reconsideration guide, which gives no turnaround time, so none is stated.
The points thresholds come from the regulations themselves. Regulations 5 and 6 of SI 2013/377 on legislation.gov.uk (current version) set at least 8 points for the standard rate and at least 12 for enhanced, counted separately for daily living and for mobility, so this page never uses any “across both components” wording. The count of 12 activities and the more-than-half-of-days test come from the DWP’s PIP assessment guide (part 2, updated 31 August 2026) and GOV.UK’s PIP guide.
The 18-week clearance time is from the DWP’s PIP statistics to July 2026, published 15 September 2026 (England and Wales). It covers new normal-rules claims in July 2026, against 15 weeks in July 2025. The next release is due 15 December 2026 and will supersede it.
The Timms Review facts come from GOV.UK. They are the review collection page (updated 9 September 2026), the interim report (first published 9 July 2026 and updated on 15 July only to add a large-print file), and the September 2026 co-chair update with its annex of emerging recommendations. The late-November date comes from a single trade-press report of a 1 October 2026 interview with Sir Stephen Timms and is attributed as such. Pat McFadden’s role was confirmed on GOV.UK’s ministers page. The review’s co-chairs are not named here by editorial choice.
Where sources conflicted. An earlier set of notes gave the residence test as two of the last three years in England or Wales; GOV.UK says England, Scotland or Wales, plus living in England or Wales when applying, and we followed GOV.UK. Regional press quoting up to £187 a week is using the 2025-26 maximum of £187.45, so we used the 2026-27 figures. GOV.UK lists 8am to 5pm for the new-claims line but 9am to 5pm on its end-of-life page for the same number, so we give only the 8am to 5pm hours.
Still moving at write time. The final Timms Review report and any government response had not been published as of 3 October 2026, and the emerging recommendations are explicitly not final. Press reports of 1 and 2 October about possible changes, including for under-25s, could not be read directly, so they appear only as reported options with no forecast.
What we did not verify. GOV.UK’s guidance on DWP factual medical reports was confirmed as updated on 1 October 2026 and its change note was read, but other details in regional headlines, such as a completion timeframe, were not confirmed and are not stated. Northern Ireland’s route was not checked beyond GOV.UK’s pointer to nidirect, so no Northern Ireland figures are given.
No betting odds, spreads or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page. No forecast of welfare reform is made either.