Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Summary

Whether or not you are entitled to PIP is based on what help you need with very specific things because of your illness or disability, and any treatment. The application process is tricky and lots of people who should get the benefit find they are turned down to start with or given a lower award. All unfair decisions should be challenged. 90% of people who use our help to ask for a mandatory reconsideration and/or appeal successfully get the decision changed. It is worth the effort! This information applies in England, Wales, and Scotland. It will also be helpful for claimants in Northern Ireland where the rules are the same but the relevant government departments and forms are different. (I have a mandatory reconsideration decision) Getting free one-to-one advice about benefits is hard. All advice services are extremely busy. We are here to help everyone who cannot get in at an advice service and cannot afford to pay for legal help. We give you the knowledge, confidence, and skills you need to deal with the issue yourself, or with the help of friends or family. If you need more help than you can get from our advice guides and self-help tools, we explain how to try to find advice.

Key information

• Whether or not you are entitled to PIP is based on what help you need with very specific things because of your illness or disability, and any treatment.
• The application process is tricky and lots of people who should get the benefit find they are turned down to start with or given a lower award. All unfair decisions should be challenged.
• 90% of people who use our help to ask for a mandatory reconsideration and/or appeal successfully get the decision changed. It is worth the effort!
• This information applies in England, Wales, and Scotland. It will also be helpful for claimants in Northern Ireland where the rules are the same but the relevant government departments and forms are different.
• Information PIP activities, descriptors and points Understand how PIP works and what you will need to show so that you get the right amount of benefit if you have a health condition or disability.  Information How to fill in the PIP form This video guide explains what you need to know about PIP and how to fill in the form.  Chosen for you How to claim PIP The best information from elsewhere to help you claim successfully 
• Tool Ask for a PIP mandatory reconsideration Our self-help tool makes it easier to challenge an unfair decision about your PIP effectively. Research shows you are twice as likely to win if you use this tool to write your letter.  Information How to challenge a PIP decision Everything you need to know about mandatory reconsiderations, what 'counts' as meeting a descriptor, deadlines, evidence, and how long it will take. 
• Information How to appeal a PIP decision What you need to do to ask for an appeal and increase your chances of having the decision changed before the hearing  Information The PIP appeal process Understand the PIP appeal process in 2026 - from mandatory reconsideration to the tribunal hearing. Learn what you need to do at each stage in the timeline, and how Advicenow can help you.  Information How to write a PIP tribunal statement Increase your chances of success by learning how to write an effective PIP tribunal statement with our step-by-step guide and example.  Information How to write effective evidence for a PIP application or appeal A guide for GPs, medical staff, social workers and other professionals so that your patient gets the right support.  Information How to support a friend at a PIP appeal hearing Learn how you could be most useful, if someone has asked you to go with them to the hearing to give them support. 
• Information How to find an adviser to help with your benefits It is now much harder to find advice and help with your benefits than it used to be. But here we explain where to start. 
• Self-help benefits tool PIP mandatory reconsideration letter tool This tool will help you write a letter that sets our your case so that you can get the decision changed. Research shows it more than doubles your chance of getting the decision changed at this stage.
• Getting free one-to-one advice about benefits is hard. All advice services are extremely busy. We are here to help everyone who cannot get in at an advice service and cannot afford to pay for legal help.
• We give you the knowledge, confidence, and skills you need to deal with the issue yourself, or with the help of friends or family. If you need more help than you can get from our advice guides and self-help tools, we explain how to try to find advice.

Practical guidance

• Source: Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

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