Page created: 21 April 2021

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - Pensioners

PIP (Personal Independence Payment) is the benefit that’s gradually replacing DLA (Disability Living Allowance). Find out more about this.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is no longer available for adults aged between sixteen and State Pension Age. This has now been replaced by PIP. Although people can and do continue to receive their DLA awards,  you can no longer make new claims for DLA.

If you are currently receiving DLA and you were not born on or before 8 April 1948, at some point you will need to make a new claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

If you have already reached State Pension Age and you do not already have a claim for DLA or PIP, you will need to apply for Attendance Allowance (AA).

You can check to see when you will reach State Pension Age by following this link.

If you have already been awarded PIP, you can continue to be paid it after reaching State Pension Age as long as you continue to satisfy the entitlement conditions.

The Mobility component for PIP cannot be enhanced once you have reached the relevant age (State Pension Age), beyond that of your original PIP Mobility award. For any review or supersession of a Mobility award beyond your relevant age, your health conditions will need to be substantially the same as your original conditions for which your Mobility award was given:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/377/regulation/27

This means that, if you are already in receipt of DLA and you are approaching your State Pension Age, you will need to consider making a new claim for PIP if you wish to enhance your eligibility for Mobility component, post State Pension Age.  

For further information regarding pensioners moving from DLA to PIP, please see this factsheet from Age UK.

Going Abroad

Further information about how moving abroad affects your affects the PIP benefit you’re claiming can be found here.