If you were born on or before 8th April 1948, you were already over 65 on 8th April 2013 when PIP was introduced and this means you will not have to claim PIP. You can remain in receipt of DLA as long as you continue to meet the criteria. If you have a change of circumstances or need to discuss your DLA claim, you would contact a different Disability Benefits Centre to PIP claimants. The contact details for the office dealing with your claim are:
Telephone: 0800 731 0122
Textphone: 0800 731 0317 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0122
British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
If you are currently receiving DLA and you are under 16 years old, then shortly after your 16th birthday you will receive an invitation to make a claim for PIP. This is because you will no longer be able to remain in receipt of DLA. If you don’t make a claim for PIP, your DLA will stop.
If you are current receiving DLA and you are at least 16 and were born after 8th April 1948, then eventually you will be transferred from DLA to PIP. When PIP was first introduced, there were a number of ways that the Department for Work and Pensions moved people from DLA to PIP:
- If their DLA was due to end, they would be asked to claim PIP instead of renewing their DLA award
- If they reported a change of circumstances, this triggered a move to PIP instead of a reassessment of their DLA
- Many claimants were selected (seemingly in a fairly random way) and invited to claim PIP instead of DLA. If they did not do so, their DLA was stopped
Through the above methods, the DWP expected to complete the move of all existing DLA claimants to PIP by March 2018. However, this deadline slipped and the random transfer of claimants from DLA to PIP was put on hold completely in 2020 due to reduced resources within the DWP and a high volume of new PIP claims. This hold has yet to be lifted.
Therefore, if you were born after 8th April 1948 and you are still receiving DLA, you will be asked to move to PIP if your current award ends or if you report a change of circumstances. You can also choose to make a PIP claim voluntarily. If none of these situations apply, the DWP will eventually select you to move when they re-start the random transfer of remaining DLA claimants to Pip. However, there is currently no timescale for completing this.
