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The timetable for the introduction of personal independence payment (PIP), the benefit set to replace disability living allowance (DLA) is still far from certain. However, the latest government position as set out by Lord Freud in the recent Welfare Reform Bill debate in January 2012 is as follows.
Only a few thousand new PIP claims a month will be processed in the first months after the introduction of PIP in April 2013. All other new and renewal claims will be treated as claims for DLA rather than PIP.
If this goes smoothly, all new claims will then be for PIP rather than disability living allowance (DLA) in the following months.
Existing DLA claimants will only be assessed for PIP six months after the benefit has been introduced - so from sometime in October 2013. Initially, this will only be DLA claimants whose fixed-term award is ending and claimants who report a change of circumstances.
Assessing all current DLA claimants is likely to take at least three yeas, so is unlikely to be completed before October 2016.
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