Personal Independence Payment Toolkit
This guide is a tool to assist people working with benefit claimants who experience multiple disadvantage when supporting them to identify, make and manage a claim for Personal Independence Payment.
INTRODUCTION
Author: Karen Dunn and Colleagues from the Specialist Welfare Benefits Team at Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke on Trent
This guide is a tool to assist people working with benefit claimants who experience multiple disadvantage when supporting them to identify, make and manage a claim for Personal Independence Payment.
For the purpose of this guide, “multiple disadvantage” is defined as facing a combination of problems including homelessness, substance misuse, contact with the criminal justice system and mental ill health. People with experiences like these will fall through the gaps between services and systems, making it harder for them to address their problems and lead fulfilling lives.
Common Issues and examples within this guide are drawn from my learning as a Welfare Benefits Specialist embedded within VOICES of Stoke on Trent. Working alongside the Service Coordinators we ensured that the customer’s entitlement to benefit was maximised and benefit decisions were checked and challenged where appropriate. I offered a consultation service, supervision, mentoring and support, and led on more complex issues and appeals though maintaining the close participation of the Coordinators. The Service Coordinators learned as they worked, thus consolidating the learning from training sessions, developing the skills to put that learning into practice, and becoming skilled benefit advocates.
AIMS
The aim of this guide is to help people experiencing multiple disadvantage and their support network to articulate their circumstances within the context of The Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013; The Universal; Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseekers Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013; The Universal; Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseekers Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013; and the Department for Work and Pensions Personal Independence Assessment Guide (last updated 17/09/2020). Where we discuss the completion of the assessment form (PIP2 How your disability affects you), this guide is intended to inform rather than replace, a thorough professional assessment.
CONTENTS
1. What is PIP?
- What is PIP?
- Who can get PIP?
- Award Periods & Backdating
- Reviews and Supersessions
- The Disability Conditions and the Required Period Condition
- Special Rules for the terminally ill
- Complex Needs’ and ‘Vulnerability’
- PIP and other benefits
- How to make a claim for PIP
- What to do if you don’t have a national insurance number (NINO)
2. The Disability Conditions
- The Reliability Test
- Fluctuating conditions
- Descriptor Choice
- Descriptors – Daily Living Component
- Descriptors - Mobility Component
3. Completing the PIP2 Form ‘How your disability affects you’
- Completing the form.
- Information to support your claim
- Common Issues
4. The Assessment and Decision Making Process
- The Assessment process
- The Decision Making process
- Common Issues
5. Special Rules for Prisoners, People in Hospital and Care Homes
- PIP and prisoners
- PIP the SDP and Prison Leavers
- PIP and hospital or similar institution
- PIP and care homes
6. Challenging a PIP Decision
- Mandatory Reconsideration
- Appealing to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT)
- Appealing to the Upper Tribunal (UT)
7. Resources
- PIP application supporting letter template
- Complex needs alert notification template
- Where to find the Law and other resources