DWP disability minister Stephen Timms is still desperately trying to hide the truth about pension age PIP claims. But his answers to an MP’s written questions make it clear that pension age PIP claimants will be subject to the four point rule, no matter how hard the DWP tried to hide that fact.
From November 2026, Labour proposes that PIP claimants will not be eligible for the daily living component unless they score 4 points or more in at least one activity.
Whenever challenged about the harshness of this rule, the DWP falls back on the assertion that it will encourage claimants with less severe conditions to seek work – in spite of PIP being available to disabled claimants regardless of their employment status.
However, even this spurious justification falls apart if the 4 point rule is applied to pension age claimants, who nobody expects to start looking for work if their PIP is taken from them.
So, up until now, the DWP have repeatedly used a particular form of words to cover the fact that there is no exemption for pension age claimants: “In keeping with existing policy, people of state pension age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by these changes.”
It is the case that pension age PIP claimants are supposed to only be subject to a light touch review every ten years. But a light touch review is still a review and must apply the existing law.
And, as we have pointed out, currently more than 10,000 pension age PIP claimants have a planned award review every year and 20,000 more request a change of circumstances review because their needs have increased.
So, unless they are exempt from the 4 point rule, they risk losing their award if they do not score 4 points or more for any activity.
To try to get the DWP to admit this truth, on 6 May we asked readers to ask their MPs to put two written questions to the secretary of state for work and pensions. The questions were:
“Will existing PIP claimants of pension age who are subject to a planned award review from November 2026 be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to maintain their award?”
“Will existing PIP claimants of pension age who request a change of circumstances review from November 2026 be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to maintain or increase their award?”
On 8 May Conservative MP Alicia Kearns kindly asked those questions and Timms replied on 16 May.
The responses only needed to be a simple “Yes they will” or “No they won’t”.
Instead, Timms fell back once again on the “not routinely fully reviewed” form of words, but then added:
“All claimants are required to notify the Department of any change to their circumstance, be that an improvement or deterioration in their needs. Upon notification of a change, a Case Manager will consider what further action might be required to ensure the claimant is receiving the correct level of support.”
It is a carefully crafted politician’s answer, designed to obscure the truth without telling an outright lie.
But a case manager considering “what further action might be required to ensure the claimant is receiving the correct level of support” is exactly what happens whenever any PIP claimant requests a change of circumstances review. Either the case manager will request an assessment of the claimant by the Health Assessment Advisory Service and then make a decision or they will make a decision on the claim using the available evidence, possibly after contacting the claimant and the claimant’s own health professionals.
The decision will be based on the law as it stands at the time and, because Labour are not exempting pension age PIP claimants from the 4 point rule, that is the law that will be applied.
So, if a pension age claimant asks for a change of circumstances review with the aim of moving from standard to enhanced PIP then, unless they are assessed as scoring four points or more for one activity, they will lose their daily living award entirely.
That is the truth that Timms is desperately trying to hide with his politician’s answer.
A much smaller proportion of pension age claimants are likely to be affected by Labour’s proposed change than working age claimants, but some will still be hit. Both pension age claimants and MPs, who will be required to vote on these proposals, have a right to be told that in plain language.
When he became disability minister, Timms claimed that he would create a new era of transparency at the DWP, as part of an effort to restore trust in the department.
But it turns out that being transparent – or trustworthy - is entirely incompatible with being a DWP minister.
You can read the full answers to the written questions here and here
