Changes to the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could result in reduced payments for individuals with specific health conditions. The Government is bringing in an additional qualifying rule, meaning that claimants must score at least 4 or above on one of the daily living activities to receive the daily living element, which currently pays £72.65 at the lower rate or £108.55 at the enhanced rate.
Currently, claimants need to score a minimum of 8 across the 10 activities to qualify for the lower rate and a total of 12 to qualify for the higher rate. This implies that under the current system, if you scored 2 for all the activities, giving you a total of 20, you would qualify for the higher rate.
However, without the necessary single score of 4 or above, you would not qualify for anything under the new rules, reducing your entitlement by over £5,600 annually. The income loss could potentially be even greater, as these changes will come into effect in November 2026, following two benefit increases, this April and next year.
Benefit rates are set to rise by 1.7% this April. Associate Professor Richard Machin, a senior lecturer in Social Work and Health at Nottingham Trent University, has warned that these changes could particularly impact those who claim PIP due to mental health conditions.
He said: “There are concerns that this could disproportionately affect people with mental health problems, generally if the help you need relates to ‘prompting’ you only receive 2 points for any one activity. Advisers suggest that this is a common way for people with mental health problems to qualify for PIP, and this does not indicate a low level of mental health problems (it can include people with bipolar disorder and severe depression).”
For instance, in the ‘Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition’ activity, you would earn 2 points if you require “supervision, prompting or assistance” up to 3.5 hours a week to manage your therapy needs, 4 points if you need 3.5 to 7 hours a week of such help, 6 points for between 7 and 14 hours, and the maximum 8 points if you need more than 14 hours.
The Resolution Foundation has issued a warning that between 800,000 and 1.2 million claimants could see their PIP entitlement decrease under the changes. PIP also includes a mobility component, which currently pays £28.70 a week or £75.75 a week.
Daniel McAfee, head of Legal Operations at Lawhive , has cautioned that the Government’s plans to change PIP eligibility could be legally challenged, under the Equality Act 2010. He said: “It could be scrutinised whether the decision-making process was lawful, rational, and proportionate.
“There could be grounds for challenge if it can be proved that the new criteria fail to adequately reflect the complex and fluctuating nature of many disabilities, especially mental health conditions. Think about the challenges in quantifying mental health.
“How do you objectively measure ‘anxiety’ or ‘depression’ in a way that aligns with rigid criteria? That’s where the legal battleground will be.”
With benefit rates set to rise by 1.7% this April, the daily living component of PIP is due to go up to £73.90 per week at the lower rate and £110.40 at the higher rate. This translates to an annual loss of income of £5,740 for those who lose eligibility for the higher rate of the daily living part.
