Thousands of people could lose the £700 monthly benefit
There are currently over three million people in the UK receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to the tune of £21.8billion. In an effort to cut this bill, Liz Kendall has proposed some extra qualifying criteria for the daily living assessment which could make thousands ineligible.
The daily living assessment looks at how safely, quickly and efficiently you can do 10 daily activities. Each activity holds a different amount of points, ranging from six to 12.
How many points you get depends on how safely, quickly and efficiently you can perform the activity and your points for all the activities are added up to get your score. Currently, you need to score at least eight points for the standard daily living rate of £72.65 a week according to Turn2Us.
If you get 12 or more you may be eligible for the enhanced rate at £108.55 a week. Kendall’s changes will mean people still have to get these minimums to qualify, but they now also have to get at least four points in a single activity.
Essentially, to claim PIP in the future, people will have to show a higher level of impairment in at least one category as Wales Online noted. For most of the categories, four points are only awarded if you need help from another person or special aids in order to safely and efficiently do the task.
Activities in the daily living assessment include:
- Preparing food
- Eating and drinking
- Managing your treatments
- Washing and bathing
- Using the toilet and managing incontinence
- Dressing and undressing
- Talking, listening and understanding
- Reading
- Mixing with other people
- Managing money
If the Green Paper is put into action, these changes will start in November 2026. At the moment it’s unclear what will happen to people who are receiving PIP now but don’t meet the new planned criteria.
Consultations are currently underway to see if there could be a type of support or different entitlement for these people. Like a transitional protection which is currently in place for migrating from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
These changes will also only impact the daily living assessment. So those claiming or applying for the mobility component should not be affected
At the moment, people are paid a standard rate of £72.65 a week or an enhanced payment of £108.55 a week depending on the extent of their disability. As well as this, people can also get a supplementary mobility payment of £28.70 or £75.75 at the enhanced level every week.
