Personal Independence Payment
There has been a new system of benefit payments introduced for people with disability active in Britain, the Personal Independence Payments, or PIPs, which has replaced the Disability Living Allowance. The PIPs system is designed to help disabled people to cope with the extra costs which are incurred because of cases of prolonged terms of ill health or disability. The benefit payments are not means tested, and they are not subject to taxes. They are payable to people who are employed and to those who are out of work as well.
To enable the more objective assessment of people’s needs, the PIPs system includes face to face consultations with independent experts in the field of health services. Furthermore, it also includes regular reviews of such people’s condition of disability, so as to confirm that they are eligible and can continue to obtain the benefits. It should also be noted that there are no existing plans for the replacement of DLA with PIPs for children who are under 16 years of age, or DLA recipients who were 65 or more years of age by April 2013.