Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Overview

What is a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment?

If you apply to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) you will usually be asked to fill in a ‘How your disability affects you’ (PIP2) form.

You should include supporting documents if you have them – for example, prescription lists, care plans, or information from your doctor or others involved in your care.

Please note that any evidence submitted as part of an application for Universal Credit (UC) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will not be available to us for your PIP assessment. If you wish evidence, including your UC or ESA assessment report to be considered, please send it with your supporting documents.

DWP may ask us to complete an independent PIP assessment as part of your claim.

A Functional Assessor, who is a qualified healthcare professional, will review your form and the evidence you provide. We may also ask you or a treating healthcare professional to give us further evidence.

Where possible, we will provide a paper-based review of your application to DWP.

You may be asked to have an assessment about your claim if more information is needed. This assessment may be face-to-face at one of our Assessment Centres, a telephone assessment, or an assessment by video.

The assessment is a conversation between you and one of our Functional Assessors. They will ask you how your long-term health condition or disability affects your day-to-day life.

The information you provide to our assessor will help DWP better understand the functional impact of your health condition or disability and the type of support you need so they can make a decision on your claim.

DWP has produced a series of videos about the PIP process, which can be accessed here.

Before your assessment

If you are invited to have an assessment you will get a letter telling you the date and time of the assessment and what information you need to have with you for your appointment.

It will also tell you whether it will be on the phone, face-to-face at an Assessment Centre, or by video call. If your assessment takes place at an Assessment Centre, your letter will include details of the location and how to get there.

You can find out more about the different types of assessment here.

If you need help before your appointment, you can call us on 0800 008 3074 between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday. Visit Getting in touch to see more options on how to contact us.

Tell us as soon as possible if:

You need to rearrange your assessment. You can only change your appointment once
You would like to discuss changing the method of assessment
You would like your face-to-face assessment recorded
You need an interpreter (including British Sign Language)
You need extra help with communication or other reasonable adjustments
You require to see a Functional Assessor of the same sex
You have changed your address or telephone number
You have any other questions or concerns

We encourage you to bring a family member, friend or support worker to your assessment. They must be aged over 16 and you should not bring children to your appointment. If you are not able to arrange childcare, please contact us in advance to discuss alternative methods of completing your assessment.

If you would like your family member, friend or support worker to be included in a telephone assessment, we will ask you for a contact number and you will need to make sure they are ready to answer the phone at the time of the assessment.

Please note that if your family member, friend or support worker is providing interpretation services, they must be over 18 years old.

On the day of your assessment

Our goal is to ensure you feel as comfortable as possible throughout this process. We are here to help and answer any questions you may have.

Your assessment will be carried out by one of our qualified Functional Assessors who will ask you about your health condition or disability.

The Functional Assessor may be a nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, paramedic or pharmacist. All Functional Assessors have post qualification experience and are registered with their governing body. This is either the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) or the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).

You can tell them in your own way how your condition or disability affects you. Anyone who attends your assessment with you can help you to explain this if necessary, although we would like to hear directly from you.

The assessment can take approximately 20 minutes to one hour, but there is no set time. During this time, our assessor will listen carefully and take notes. You can also ask any questions you have.

You can record your assessment on your own device and take your own notes.

After your assessment

After your assessment, our Functional Assessor will write a report. This report will include the information you shared about how your health condition or disability affects your daily life.

The report is sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help them make a decision about your PIP claim.

The Functional Assessor who carried out your assessment does not make any decision on your PIP claim and will not know the outcome of your application.

Once the DWP has come to a decision about your claim, they will contact you by letter to let you know the outcome. If you need to contact the DWP PIP Helpline, please click here.

If you have asked for your assessment to be recorded we will send you a copy by post.

Providing feedback

If you would like to give feedback on your assessment or would like information in an alternative format, you can contact us:

By telephone
Health Assessment Advisory Service PIP Helpline
Telephone: 0800 008 3074
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 008 3074
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 9am to 5pm

By post
PO Box 668
Bristol
BS34 8YU

For guidance on providing comments, feedback and complaints, you can download our Feedback Form here or pick one up at one of our Assessment Centres. Alternatively, you can call us to request for a Feedback Form to be sent to your home.

We cannot give you updates on the progress of your claim. You can contact the DWP PIP Helpline here.