Thanks to all those who attended our briefings recently on Personal Independence Payment(PIP). 99% of the feedback was excellent/good. One of the suggested responses to the cuts imposed by Welfare Reform was to make sure that clients maximise their entitlement to Disability Living Allowance(DLA) before PIP comes in. You could potentially gain £1000’s for each client who has been missing out on DLA.
Disability Living Allowance is paid to help with the extra costs of disability and is non means tested, is not affected if your client is in work and can be claimed by adults and children aged under 65.
Actions could include-
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Contact clients to explain who can get DLA and sign post to put in a claim.
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Consider helping clients to apply for supersessions of their current DLA if they are due an increase( this will need an adviser as there is a risk involved that a reduction in the current award could also happen).
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Get help with individual claims via our discussion forum.
Latest information about PIP from the DWP suggests-
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New claims for PIP will start from April 2013 in Merseyside, North West England, Cumbria, Cheshire and North East England. New claims will start from June 2013 for the rest of the country.
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Existing DLA claimants aged 16– 64 will be moved over to PIP from DLA ‘naturally’(on renewal- where a fixed term claim comes to an end from October 2013 onwards), or supersession- (there is a change in circumstances from October 2013 ) or …. in a ‘managed’ fashion between January 2014 and April 2016.
Past changes in the Benefit System have shown us that these timetables often slip because of delays such as further consultations, computer systems, administration and legislation(the regulations for PIP have not been passed yet).
Our in-house course on Disability Living Allowance/ PIP is aimed at helping you to maximize your clients’ rights to DLA and how to manage the transition to PIP.