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Daily Express - 20 June 2025. Posting for information.
DWP update after concerns PIP claimants could lose £2,500 over 20-metre ruleYour payment rate for PIP depends on how your condition affects you
By Nicholas Dawson, Finance Reporter based in London, covering personal finance with a focus on the state pension and retirement planning.Labour ministers have explained the rules around PIP eligibility after concerns claimants could lose out on entitlement due to a specific rule.
PIP (Personal Independence Payment) provides payments to help cover the extra costs that a claimant incurs due to a long-term health condition or disability.
The benefit includes a daily living part and a mobility part, with a lower and upper rate depending on your level of need.
Conservative MP Charlie Dewhirst asked the Government if it had looked at the impact on claimants of losing out on entitlement to the mobility element, due to a particular 20-metre walking rule used when assessing how much a person should get.
He wanted to know if ministers had considered both the "mental health and financial impact of losing entitlement". The mobility element currently pays £29.20 or £77.05 a week.
This means if you were on the higher rate and became no longer eligible for any the mobility element, your income would drop by just over £4,000 a year.
The 20-metre rule in question refers to the 'moving around' activity, which is one of two activities you are scored on to give you a total number of points to work out your entitlement.
You need a total of at least 8 points to get the lower rate and a total of at least 12 points to get the higher rate.
To get any points for the activity, you need to at least be limited in your movement such that you can stand and then move more than 50 metres but not more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided. In this case, you would get 4 points.
The 20-metre rule comes in with the next category - if you are less mobile, and you can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres, you would get 8 points, enough on its own to qualify you for the lower rate.
But if you can stand and then move within the same limits, but only using an aid or appliance, you would get 10 points. If your situation is even more restricted, and you can stand and move more than one metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided, you would get 12 points, entitling you to the upper rate.
You would also get 12 points if you cannot stand at all or move more than one metre, whether aided or unaided.
DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms responded to the question. He summarised the walking distance rule in this way: "For those with physical restrictions, the enhanced rate of the PIP mobility component is for those "unable" or "virtually unable" to walk.
"The 20 metre distance distinguishes between those whose mobility is significantly more limited than others and who face the greater barriers on a day-to-day basis, (those who have the highest need)."
Further explaining the rules, he said that distance is not the only factor when assessing a person for the 'moving around' activity, as there is also a 'reliability' criteria.
The minister said: "This means individuals who can walk more than 20 metres can still receive the enhanced rate of the mobility component if they cannot do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly or in a reasonable time.
"Whilst claimants can only reach an enhanced mobility award in activity 12 if they cannot reliably walk more than 20 metres, they may still qualify for a standard award should they satisfy another descriptor scoring a minimum of 8 points.
"Claimants can also reach a standard or enhanced mobility award by scoring 8, or 12 points respectively across activities 11 and 12 combined."
If you were on the enhanced mobility rate of £77.05 a week, or £4,006.60 a year, and you were reassessed and dropped to the lower rate of £29.20 a week, or £1,518.40 a year, you would lose out on £2,488.20 a year.
Addressing the question directly, he said the DWP had not looked at the mental health impact of losing out on PIP due to the 20-metre distance rule.
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disability talk with Steve on YouTube thinks it’s gonna be a money bill
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This will end very bad for labour if this does get through, i mean being threatened if they vote no.
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You're right , or course, but I wonder if it might end badly for the Labour front team if the Bill were to crash and burn. Reeves and Kendall would lose face totally.
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Morning chiarieds,
Hope you’re well . Thank you so much for you advice it’s really appreciated. I’ve always found the mobility component confusing as with my conditions you get PEM so if you were able to do more on a particular day you suffer for it afterwards. And though it says you should be able to do the journey repeatedly I don’t know that assessors really take that into account. Last time the question was changed to how many minutes I walk , I’d never thought to count in minutes. I also get points for planning a journey but I haven’t seen that in the lcwra descriptor so not sure if that counts . A lot of the time I either fight through pain and fatigue if I can or don’t go out at all . So I may not go out for a few weeks as I physically can’t . But my assessor didn’t accept that and kept insisting on if I do go out etc.
And first thing this morning I received a txt saying my pip form is on its way . What a way to start the day 😂
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I really don't think it's going to be a Money Bill… but I've been wrong before.
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It can't go through as a money bill in entirety as U.C and pip are policy matters, AGAIN i keep saying this to people ( not you squirrel), yes some parts like spending on LCWRA and pip (but not changing eligibility etc) technically could do. The most important parts of the 'reforms' like changing the eligibility for pip, 4 point rule, changing descriptors etc would still have to go through parliament in the normal way. I would advise ring scope or CAB to get proper answers and NOT what someone has seen on YouTube etc which does not tell the whole story of money bills in relation to pip and LCWRA. More scaremongering again on this forum, I'll never use it again, it's made my mental health worse with negative, false comments and some people being nasty about others comments (again not you squirrell)
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There’s lots of talk of it being a money bill on social media and YouTube disability expert commentators and on jeramy Corbyn’s letter ,I get there is no concrete evidence but it really wouldn’t surprise me if what it was put forward as one hearing all the talk and the way this government acts.
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Morning MW ,
I wrote to Jeremy for clarification regarding this but as yet I haven’t received a reply. I imagine they’re extremely busy with emails right now . Could starmer announce it as a money last minute hence he’s cancelling their right to abstain?
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Morning Charlie,
I think it’s been started by Jeremy writing it on that letter. I have emailed him to ask but no reply yet.
As you say how can it be a money bill ? They could literally do the same for all new legislation as everything costs money.
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That women on justice journals spreads all sorts of **** .... Steve is a nice fella it seems but as you say all he does is read out articles from the internet , he's basically just reading from the articles , which is part of the problem really , I mean how many times have we been up one minute then down the next , all from media and newspapers that just pour petrol on the flames
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I had to delete her Danny . She actually twists things for clicks . Steve doesn’t, he reports things as they come out on benefits and work etc . Rich on dynamic duo is good as he knows the process and used to work at the dwp .
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Hi Catherine,
I had to delete her , she didn’t exactly tell the truth and clearly has a personal agenda against the dwp
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Best thing to do if you worry or are concerned about the cuts is, don't watch youtube at all or click on anything to do with information that isn't official.
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It's up to the Speaker whether a Bill can be presented as a Money Bill. This Bill does not fit the criteria. I honestly believe this is scaremongering and we're scared enough.
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@charlie72 Take care but please don't disappear. You give so much.
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Thanks for posting some common sense on this subject, I tried to last week saying the exact same thing from reliable sources like Scope, CAB, Gov.Uk site, still people posted links on YouYube, Daily Mail etc, who obviously don't have our best interests at heart. No doubt this will carry on, I understand people wanting to know what's going on with these 'refrorms', I'm one of them too, but online social media, YouTube, Online rags like Daily Mail are not reliable or disability friendly sources, theyn just cause more fear, stress, anxiety, and arguments on forums like this which are meant to help people and be a friendly space.
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not scaremongering just asking legitimate questions in a forum about genuine information I have seen
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I find her spiteful Catherine. It’s one for YouTubers to read something and report it only to find it’s not true , but I was finding she was deliberately misleading to scare people. She has some kind of subscription where you I assume pay her for her help . So apart from the fact she’s ex dwp who took them to court so she has a grudge it also benefits her to make us scared so we subscribe and I assume pay for her services. Dynamic duo I’ve found to be factual and they’ll say if they can’t clarify something. It’s not the type of channel that charges you for their help or advice. There are also dwp members that watch and comment who support the channel.
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