The DWP has today officially confirmed that PIP claims awaiting a review will be automatically extended by ‘up to 12 months’, as Benefits and Work revealed at the beginning of this month.
The official confirmation came in the latest edition of the DWP newsletter, Touchbase.
The full text of the announcement is as follows:
“This month we have started automatically extending existing PIP claims awaiting review by up to 12 months. This will happen 35 days before the award end date.
“The extension provides greater certainty for claimants and in particular help with continuing to access other support, e.g. a blue badge for parking.
“From 31 October, a letter will be sent automatically to claimants confirming continuing entitlement for up to 12 months. Until then, we will update claimants by text message that their award reviews have been extended and will remain in payment.
“Anyone needing written confirmation before 31 October can contact the helpline on 0800 121 4433 and we will issue a notification of entitlement. Otherwise, claimants do not need to contact us unless their circumstances change.
“In line with our usual process, we may review claims before their new end date and if so, will write to claimants to inform them. PIP payments will be received as normal until we complete the review of a claim. If we have not completed the review by the extended award date, we may extend the end date of the PIP award again and will write to claimants to tell them about this.
“Please share this information within your organisations.”
