11 changes in circumstances and details that could stop your PIP - or even face penalties

Claimants need to contact the department “straight away” in these situations

People receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP) need to keep the Department for Work and Pensions up to date about specific changes in their lives. While some, like changing doctors, are just good for your claim to note, others could severely impact how much you are receiving from the benefit or potentially stop it entirely.

This includes:

• Needing more or less help with daily living and mobility tasks
• Your prognosis changes
• A medical professional says you have 12 months or less to live
• Going into a hospital, a hospice, a nursing home or a care home
• Going into a residential school or college
• Going into foster care or into the care of a local authority or health and social care trust
• You are being imprisoned or held in detention
• Going abroad for more than 4 weeks
• Changes in immigration status for non-British or Irish citizens
• You start or stop getting pensions or benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• Your spouse or parent you depend on starts or stops getting benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

If any of these circumstances changes, you must contact the PIP enquiry line “straight away”. The department warns: “You could be taken to court or have to pay a penalty if you give wrong information or do not report a change straight away.”

This does include holidays abroad. You’ll need to tell the department where you’re going, for how long and why. It’s vital to keep this in mind when planning your summer breaks.

If you’re in hospital or similar residences for 28 days your PIP will cease. Except for certain situations like people who fully self-fund their placement at a care home, according to Daily Record.

If you come out of hospital or a care home and go back in less than 28 days, this will count as a linked visit. If you move between these residences, such as going from hospital to a care home, this will also link for the day count.

Claimants detained in legal custody for 28 days will have their PIP stopped. This will apply regardless if it's a civil or criminal case and regardless of whether they are on remand or have been convicted.

Payments that are missed because of being in legal custody can’t be refunded or backdated regardless of the proceeding outcomes. If you are taken into legal custody twice within one year this stints will be linked towards the 28 day count.

To report a change, you can use 0800 121 4433 for the PIP enquiry line telephone, 0800 121 4493 for the textphone, 18001 then 0800 121 4433 for Relay UK or get a BSL video relay service here. The lines are open between Monday and Friday from 9am to 5pm.

If you realise one of these changes has occurred and you received more benefits than you should have, you’ll likely need to repay the extra money. If it’s found that you deliberately avoided alerting DWP to the change in order to keep getting the same amount of benefit you could be prosecuted for benefit fraud.