DLA Lifetime Award PIP Transition Started From 1 September In 29 New Areas

Claimants getting a lifetime or indefinite award of disability living allowance (DLA)in a further 29 postcode areas are now being forced to try to claim personal independence payment (PIP) instead. Originally no transfers from DLA to PIP were planned to take place before October 2015.

The move from DLA to PIP in the 29 new areas began on 1 September. The transfer process is expected to take over two years, with the DWP saying claimants can be contacted at any time up to 30 September 2017.

In June, the DWP announced that 3,000 claimants in 10 postcode areas would begin to be assessed for PIP from 13 July, earlier than the original planned date of October 2015. The DWP claimed this was so they could test the reassessment process, including letters and phone call scripts.

However, the latest announcement suggests that the DWP is in a rush to get up to the full rate of an average of 1,800 assessments a day for lifetime DLA claimants.

The award rate for DLA to PIP reassessments has fallen from a high of 79% last November, down to a low of 72%. This means that currently 28% of DLA claimants do not get an award of PIP.

The new affected postcode areas are:

• Bath (BA)
• Blackpool (FY)
• Bromley (BR)
• Bournemouth (BH)
• Bristol (BS)
• Cambridge (CB)
• Canterbury (CT)
• Cardiff (CF)
• Chelmsford (CM)
• Crewe (CW)
• Dartford (DA)
• Dorchester (DT)
• Durham (DH)
• Gloucester (GL)
• Halifax (HX)
• Huddersfield (HD)
• Lancaster (LA)
• Luton (LU)
• Plymouth (PL)
• Portsmouth (PO)
• Reading (RG)
• Romford (RM)
• Salisbury (SP)
• Southend on Sea (SS)
• Southampton (SO)
• Stockport (SK)
• Taunton (TA)
• Torquay (TQ)
• Truro (TR)

Already affected from 13 July are 10 postcode areas:

• Blackburn (BB)
• Bolton and Bury (BL)
• Derby (DE)
• Leicester (LE)
• Manchester (M)
• Oldham (OL)
• Preston (PR)
• Stoke-on-Tent (ST)
• Warrington (WA)
• Wigan (WN)