Penny Mordaunt, Minister of State for Disabled People, has announced the introduction of a rapid reclaim system for personal independence payment (PIP) claimants who go abroad for more than 13 weeks, but return within 12 months.
At present, most claimants who go abroad for more than 13 weeks lose their entitlement to PIP and have to make a fresh claim in the normal way when they return home.
Under the new rules, set to be introduced in the next two months, claimants will be able to use a rapid reclaim process which is intended to allow a PIP claim to be completed within two weeks.
Eligible claimants will be those who:
were in receipt of Personal Independence Payment prior to their absence abroad;
were out of the country for more than 13 weeks but returned within 12 months of when they left;
have not have reached the Award Review Date of their previous claim (typically 12 months prior to the claim end date);
can confirm that their needs have not changed since before their absence abroad.
