PIP abroad

I see in your PIP guide you say you have to be living in the UK for two years out of the last two in the UK to be eligible but this is incorrect. There are exceptions such as if you have been living in an EU country (Or Switzerland) and tick various other boxes such as having kept roots in the UK or having family members there and most importantly and an automatic tick if you have been claiming UK benefits such as Carers benefit.

Claiming DLA and Carers Allowance abroad is and has been quite legal to do since I think it was 2006 although it took the UK government two years (2008) to stop trying to get out of the EU law and pay up.

I have recently returned from living in the EU where I claimed PIP from there in December. Because my injury was more than 3 months before I came back to live in the UK my claim will be dealt with by the 'Pip Exportability' department. Others not having the three months abroad can still claim so don't be put off although it will be harder to convince those untrained staff at the front gate.

The biggest problem I had was getting past the PIP1 verbal questions and getting them to agree I was entitled to claim and then send me the Exportability departments equivalent of a PIP2 form (PIP 1003) which I now have.

I have had two phone calls and one letter telling me I am not eligible but by using a back door method of getting through to the Exportability Team direct I managed to get them involved and retrieve my claim and to its rightful department.

If I can be of any help to anyone in the same boat don't hesitate to ask questions.

I believe DLA Care component and PIP Care component is available to be had once overseas in a EU or some other countries but you are not permitted to have the DLA Mobility or PIP Mobility component overseas in EU or some other countries. In certain cases the Secretary of State has to ok this re care component in order to stay overseas and not be present up to 9 weeks ( 26 weeks if undergoing treatment)
Pre PIP along with IB you could be away for up to 26 weeks.

This is the information I received from a Decision Maker working on PIP:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a new benefit that will gradually replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for 16-64 year olds. People aged under 16 or over 64 will not be affected by these changes and can continue to receive or claim DLA or Attendance Allowance.

From 10 June 2013 all new claims will no longer be for DLA but will instead be for PIP.

From October 2013 people who are receiving DLA for a fixed period which comes up for review will be reassessed for PIP. From 2015 existing, ongoing claimants of DLA will start to be transferred onto PIP.

Timetable in Northern Ireland

PIP has not yet been introduced in Northern Ireland. Under current plans it will replace DLA from Spring 2014 in Northern Ireland, for people of working age (16 to 64 years old) who make a new claim. However, please note that this date may change, as it will only come in if the Northern Ireland Welfare Reform Bill is passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

What is PIP?
Personal Independence Payments are designed to help with the extra costs caused by ill-health or disability. They can consist of one or two parts, each of which can be at the standard rate or the enhanced rate:

Daily living component

Standard rate – if you have a limited ability to carry out daily living activities
Enhanced rate – if you have a severely limited ability to carry out daily living activities
Mobility component

Standard rate – if you have a limited mobility
Enhanced rate - if you have a severely limited mobility
Each of these components entitles the claimant to a regular weekly award.

Who can qualify?
People claiming Personal Independence Payments must satisfy two tests - the activity test and a residence and presence test.

Most people will have a face to face consultation with a health professional to assess their daily living and mobility needs as part of the activity test . The person’s circumstances are compared with a set of criteria to determine if they are entitled to help. In order to qualify for PIP a person has to score a certain number of points in relation to 12 activities. These are:

Preparing food
Taking nutrition
Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
Washing and bathing
Managing toilet needs or incontinence
Dressing and undressing
Communicating verbally
Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words
Engaging with other people face to face
Making budgeting decisions
Planning and following journeys
Moving around

Each of these activities has a set of descriptors which, if they describe a person’s condition, grant them a points score. For example, under the Preparing Food activity if someone “Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal” they are awarded two points, but if they “Need supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal” the award is four points.

The number of points awarded are used to decide what type of PIP a person is entitled to and what level of award they receive. The person claiming must have the required number of points for the three months before they made their claim and they must be expected to have them for the following nine months.

The second test is the residency and presence test . To be ‘present’ a person must be currently living in Great Britain and must have been living there for two of the last three years. If they are terminally ill, they just have to be currently living in Great Britain.

To be ‘habitually resident’, a person must be able to prove that their main home is in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland or the Channel Islands. This particularly applies to people who have moved to the UK within the last two years or have been living abroad, even if they are British citizens.

How to claim PIP
PIP is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions. To make a new PIP claim if you’re in Great Britain you should call the Personal Independence Payment claims line on 0800 917 2222 or textphone 0800 917 7777. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Pusscatsmum, that is correct the mobility part of DLA or PIP cannot be exported to other countries in the EU.

Jim. On the governments own website it says.
3. Eligibility
To qualify for PIP, you must:

"be aged 16 to 64
have a long-term health condition or disability and difficulties with activities related to ‘daily living’ and or mobility (see below)
be in Great Britain when you claim - there are some exceptions, eg members and family members of the Armed Forces
have been in Great Britain for at least 2 of the last 3 years
be habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands
not be subject to immigration control (unless you’re a sponsored immigrant)
There are some exceptions to these conditions if you’re living or coming from another EEA country or Switzerland."

The link it then sends you to doesn't tell the full story and this is why the front row PIP people on the phone do not know the rules. IE: You can claim PIP from abroad and if you have recently returned from abroad. To be eligible to claim abroad you have to tick various boxes and also if you have recently returned from abroad you have to pass a habitual residents test but you can pass this in various ways without having actually lived here recently or as they say for two years out of the last three.

I am happy to share the details privately of a benefit advisor for those in Spain and the back door method of getting in touch with the PIP exportability team here in the UK who deal with and know about this type of claim and have confirmed that this benefit (PIP) is claimable from other EU countries.

The proof of the pudding will be when my claim is accepted but remember the PIP1 application is to get rid of those not eligible and the fact I have been sent a PIP1003 (Equivalent of a PIP2) is proof enough I am eligible to claim.

I believe there maybe some truth in what Carper is saying. I had a similar case with AA and it seems reasonable to assume the rules would be the same with PIP. I had a couple who had retired to Spain and then came back to the UK due to ill health. The DWP informed me that they would not be eligible for AA as they had not been in the country for two out of the last three years. However I never take the DWPs word for it so decided to check this with Disability Rights UK who I always find to be a reputable source. They informed me that as they had been living in Spain they would be eligible providing they now had a permanent residence in Britain. I can only assume that this was correct as they went on to successfully claim.

I cannot comment on receiving PIP, DLA or AA abroad as I have not had a claimant who has done so. However I believe it may be the case that these benefits are exportable around Europe. I am sure Gordon will get back to us with clarification.

I think Carper makes a good point about the DWP not giving the right info in this case, I subscribe to the mantra 'If you have a benefits query never ask the DWP!'. They either lack info or are deliberately misleading.