Personal Independence Payment

From 2013 the Government is proposing to introduce a new benefit called Personal Independence Payment for eligible working age people aged 16 to 64 to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The intention is that Personal Independence Payment will focus support to those individuals who experience the greatest challenges to remaining independent and leading full, active and independent lives.

Disability Living Allowance was introduced in 1992 and has not been fundamentally reviewed or reformed since. There is confusion about the purpose of the benefit, it is complex to claim and there is no systematic way of checking that awards remain correct.

We are putting disabled people at the heart of the development of Personal Independence Payment. This includes:

• Working with disabled people and their organisations as we develop the new claims and assessment processes
• Seeking feedback on our proposals for the draft assessment criteria, which consider an individual’s circumstances and the impact of their health condition or impairment on their everyday life.

What the change means

From April 2013 to March 2016 everyone aged 16 to 64 receiving DLA will be reassessed to see whether they are entitled to the new Personal Independence Payment.

People entitled to Personal Independence Payment will have their claims smoothly transferred over and their DLA will stop.

Those not found to be entitled to Personal Independence Payment will be informed and their DLA will stop. They may be able to claim other benefits.

There are no current plans to replace DLA with Personal Independence Payment for children aged under 16 and people over the age of 65 who are already receiving DLA.