The chances of making a successful personal independence (PIP) claim are continuing to fall, with only just over a one in three chance of a new claimant getting an award. Meanwhile, the average time for a claim to be decided has increased.
Main statistics
In the quarter ending January 2026 there were:
- 190,000 registrations and 160,000 clearances for new claims
- 31,000 changes of circumstance reported and 28,000 cleared
- 22,000 registrations and 17,000 clearances for DLA reassessments
- 150,000 planned award reviews registered and 180,000 cleared
- 64,000 mandatory reconsiderations (MRs) registered and 75,000 cleared
Clearance times
The average time to decide a new PIP claim is currently 20 weeks from registering a claim to a decision being made, up from 16 weeks at the same time a year ago.
The time taken from being referred to an assessment provider to getting a decision is currently 15 weeks, up from 11 weeks a year ago.
So, it would appear that it is a shortage of assessors which is increasing the waiting time for decisions.
Success rates
For the quarter ending January 2026, the percentage of new claims that received an award was just 35%, down from 43% a year ago.
Looking only at new PIP claims that got as far as the assessment stage, the success rate was 45%, down from 51% a year ago.
For DLA to PIP reassessments, the success rate was down to 69%, from 72% a year ago.
Looking only at DLA to PIP reassessments that got as far as the assessment stage, the success rate was down to 75% from 78% a year ago.
There has been no change to PIP rules, regulations or caselaw that would explain this fall in successful claims.
You can read the latest PIP statistics here.
