The DWP have finally stated that people over state pension age “will not be affected by the proposed changes” to personal independence payment (PIP) set out in the Pathways To Work Green Paper. However, questions still remain.
Ever since the Green Paper was published there has been a lack of clarity about whether pension age PIP claimants would be caught by the PIP 4-point rule. Although the Green Paper made reference to the “working-age PIP caseload” there was no explicit statement that pension age claimants would be exempt.
It is the case that, once you reach state pension age, your award will usually become an ongoing award. Whilst this means your PIP award does not have an end date, it doesn’t mean it will never be checked.
Instead, you are likely to have an award review every 10 years, according to a statement made by Amber Rudd – the then secretary of state for work and pensions – in May 2019.
But this could lead to a situation where claimants could lose their award at the age of say 76.
In an attempt to settle the matter, Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan asked the secretary of state in a written question:
“. . . what assessment she has made on the potential impact of the measure set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on PIP claimants of retirement age.”
DWP disability minister Stephen Timms answered:
“Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.”
This does seem to suggest that claimants above state pension age are not being targeted by the DWP. But it does leave several unanswered questions.
The first is just why this was not made explicit in the Green Paper, when it was clearly going to be a matter of enormous concern.
The second is what does “not routinely fully reviewed” mean? In fact, thousands of claimants over pension age do have a planned award review after they reach pension age.
In the year to January 2025, 12,300 pension age PIP claimants had a planned award review. It is not clear why these happened or whether they will continue after November 2026.
In addition, 19,238 pension age PIP claimants had a change of circumstances review in the same period.
It is possible to move from the standard to the enhanced rate of PIP after state pension age by asking for a change of circumstances review, if your needs increase.
However, if a claimant does not have any 4-point descriptors then there is nothing in the minister’s answer to guarantee that they would not run the risk of losing their daily living award altogether if they asked for a review after November 2026.
As with so much about the Green Paper, there is an impression of ideas being cobbled together after publication. This impression was reinforced by a separate parliamentary answer, in which Timms wrote:
“Some information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper was published alongside the Spring Statement and can be found at this link: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. More information on the impacts will be published in due course, a further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.”
Nonetheless, this news will come as a welcome relief for pension age PIP claimants.
