How do I claim PIP?

Question

How do I claim PIP?

Accepted Answer

Start by phone on 0800 917 2222, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. In Northern Ireland the number is 0800 012 1573. If the basic rules are met, you are sent a form called How your disability affects you. Send it back within one month. Scotland is a different benefit. You can claim if you are 16 to State Pension age and the difficulty is expected to last at least 12 months. You must have had it for 3 months and expect it to last another 9, unless you are terminally ill. A new claim in Scotland is Adult Disability Payment, from Social Security Scotland, not PIP. The order of the claim The phone call registers the claim. That date matters, because an award is usually paid from the day you rang, not the day of the decision. The form then asks about 12 tasks. An assessment may follow, by phone, video or in person. The decision comes after that. In July 2026 the median new claim took 18 weeks from registration to decision. What to have ready Your National Insurance number, a bank account, the GP’s details, and a short account of how the tasks go wrong. A diagnosis letter helps. It does not replace the task-by-task answer. Someone else can be with you on the call. If speaking is the hard part, ask for the form to be posted and get help filling it in. If you are turned down In the quarter to July 2026, 34% of cleared new claims were awarded. A refusal is common. You can ask for a mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the decision letter. Do not start a fresh claim as a substitute for challenging the letter you already have. The dates are different.