PIP vs DLA in 2026: What's the Difference and Who Gets Which?

Why Two Benefits Exist

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was the UK's main disability benefit for both children and working-age adults for over two decades. From 2013, the government began replacing it for working-age adults (16 to State Pension age) with Personal Independence Payment (PIP), rolled out gradually across the country and by claimant group.

Today:

• PIP covers working-age adults with a long-term health condition or disability
• DLA for children continues as a separate, ongoing benefit for under-16s
• DLA for adults still exists only for a shrinking pool of people who reached State Pension age before being moved to PIP, or who haven't yet been reassessed

If you're a working-age adult and still receiving DLA, this is a legacy position, not a permanent choice — reassessment to PIP will happen eventually if it hasn't already.

Structural Differences

How the PIP Assessment Works

PIP eligibility is based on how your condition affects your ability to carry out a defined list of daily living activities (such as preparing food, managing medication, washing and dressing, communicating) and mobility activities (such as planning and following journeys, moving around). Each activity is scored using descriptors that carry points; your total points across daily living and mobility activities determine whether you receive the standard or enhanced rate of each component (or neither).

This structured, points-based approach is different from DLA's more general application, which is why moving from DLA to PIP can result in an increased, decreased, or unchanged award — the outcome genuinely depends on your specific functional needs, assessed against PIP's criteria, not simply a like-for-like transfer of your DLA award.

What Happens When You're Invited to Move from DLA to PIP

1. You receive a letter from the DWP inviting you to claim PIP — this isn't optional if you want your benefit to continue.
2. You complete the "How your disability affects you" form, describing the impact of your condition on daily living and mobility activities.
3. In most cases, you'll have an assessment — face-to-face, by phone, or video call — with a health professional from an assessment provider, who prepares a report for the DWP decision maker.
4. The DWP makes a decision based on the points scored, awarding PIP at whichever component/rate combination applies (or deciding you don't qualify).
5. Your DLA continues at its existing rate until the PIP decision is made — but if you don't respond to the invitation at all within the time given, your DLA can stop without a PIP award in place.

Children Moving from Child DLA to PIP

Children receiving Disability Living Allowance are invited to apply for PIP as they approach their 16th birthday, since PIP doesn't apply to under-16s. This is a similar transition to the adult DLA-to-PIP process — a fresh points-based assessment against PIP's adult criteria, which can again result in an increased, reduced, or unchanged award compared with the child DLA rate previously received.

What to Do If You Disagree With a PIP Decision

If a reassessment (or new claim) results in a PIP award lower than expected, or a refusal:

1. Request a Mandatory Reconsideration from the DWP — this must usually happen before you can appeal, and there's a time limit (normally one month from the decision) to request it.
2. If still unsatisfied after mandatory reconsideration, you can appeal to an independent tribunal (HM Courts & Tribunals Service).
3. Many claimants find seeking support from a welfare rights adviser, Citizens Advice, or a disability charity helpful when challenging a PIP decision, given the detailed, evidence-based nature of the process.

Rates Change Annually

Both PIP and (where it still applies) DLA rates are uprated each April, typically in line with the previous September's CPI inflation figure. Always check the current gov.uk rates for the 2026/27 tax year rather than relying on older figures, since all disability benefit amounts change annually.