Hi, my name is AmyB_TS12 - Will I lose PIP if I start work?

AmyB_TS12

I get PIP and I am wanting to get a part time job but I keep being told I will lose my pip if I work. I'm just enquiring whether this is true as I am capable of working

janer1967

Hi ans welcome 

You can work and claim PIP as long as the work you do doesn't compromise the reason you get it 

Ehmg if you get PIP for not being able to communicate but then get an job in call centre 

Many people claim PIP and work 

Cher_Scope

Hi @AmyB_TS12 and welcome to our online community.

You can claim PIP whether you are in or out of work, however the Disability Rights UK website advises:

Starting a job may suggest that your care or mobility needs have changed, so your benefit entitlement could be reconsidered. It is possible that your care needs may actually increase if you move into work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) views starting or leaving work as a potential ‘change of circumstances’ for DLA and PIP.

So like @janer1967 says if your work compromises the reason you get PIP you would need to inform the PIP enquiry line or alternatively, if your care needs increase make sure to let them know too.

Hope that helps answer your question but feel free to ask more if you are still unsure.

Just to add, I've moved your post to our PIP, DLA and AA board so people can see it more easily

AmyB_TS12

Cher_Scope okay, thank you

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @AmyB_TS12 Let us know if you need any more information!

mikehughescq

The DRUK statement that

“The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) views starting or leaving work as a potential ‘change of circumstances’ for DLA and PIP.”

is simply 100% wrong. It is not the case and it never has been. Moreover DWP actually say the exact opposite. Whenever any potential changes of circs are listed starting/leaving work is never on that list. This can be evidenced by looking at https://www.gov.uk/pip/change-of-circumstances. Same at https://www.gov.uk/dla-disability-living-allowance-benefit/your-DLA-claim. Same at https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/what-youll-get

This is reinforced by Citizens Advice, often guilty of oversimplification, explicitly detailing changes you do not have to report at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/changes-that-affect-pip/. 

Prior to starting work it’s almost impossible to know if the tasks within a role will suggest a lessening of entitlement thus there is nothing to report at the point you start work. Leaving work might be because of a deterioration but because it can be for so many other reasons there is no obligation to report anything. It’s absolutely a choice. 

As regards work compromising an award let’s be very clear. A claimant is in no position to know that at all. Starting work is unlikely to involve the surrender of aids or appliances so there’s no points loss there. That just leaves whether someone needs help from another person or the thorny question of whether someone can do something reliably. Most people have no idea how to assess that. The most dangerous advice those people can be given is 

“if your work compromises the reason you get PIP you would need to inform the PIP enquiry line”.

Er no. Absolutely not. If you take that approach you will have reported a change of circumstances before starting work and risk losing benefit without even necessarily being in a position to take the work.

If you think starting work might compromise an award of a disability benefit then the next step is not to disclose. It is to seek advice. That advice would establish which activities might be impacted and whether that would impact any existing award. If the advice was that it might then there is an assessment of risk i.e. it could happen but what is the risk really. The next step is never to tell a DBC. The next step is to consider whether you would nevertheless wish to work.

If you do not then there is nothing to disclose. 

If you do then there is also nothing to disclose because the starting work is not a relevant change of circumstances. The specific tasks within the work may suggest a change but how do you know the exact extent of what you can and can’t do until you’ve tried work? It’s for exactly that reason “permitted work” was created within the ESA regime.

There is nothing to disclose until you have started work and been able to draw the conclusion that some tasks you thought you couldn’t do reliably you now can. Even then you’d need further advice to know whether your judge,ENT of that was correct and because the loss of any points might still not lose you any benefit and the only things you’re obliged to report are those things a reasonable person might think would impact the amount paid. 

If you have sought advice once or twice and concluded on that advice that, even if things have changed for the better, your entitlement won’t reduce, then there is nothing to disclose. 

*[Post edited by moderator, please keep comments directed at the post/content not the poster]

Adrian_Scope

Hello @AmyB_TS12 and a warm welcome to the community. 

As has been pointed out by everyone above, you can work and claim PIP and lots of people do. What sort of work are you hoping to get into?

As @mikehughescq has clarified, the information on Disability Rights is unfortunately incorrect. You do not need to declare starting work as a change to PIP.

Best of luck with your job search!