Hi, my name is littlewing! im confused about transition from DLA to PIP at 16

littlewing

hi there im confused about transition from DLA to PIP at 16..  my Autistic epileptic 16 year old was required in march 2022 her birthday to move from DlA to PIP we were told if we didnt her DLA would stop..  on talking with pip they said her claim would be from her application as it isnt an automatic transfer across.. so we applied they said that she would continue to be paid Dla while the assessment for Pip was processed a time that took 5 months.  her entitlement under pip is higher than under Dla but the DWP are insisting that she is not entitled to that rate from her application date  16 birthday as in the DWPs words it isnt new claim as she was on Dla prior to PIP  as previously stated it isnt automatic transfer you must apply for it..  so which is accurate Dla and Pip are the same or Dla and Pip are seperate benefits which must be individually applied and assessed for.  Does this confuse others.  i have a screen shot by DWP dated 6 April 2022 stating  you cannot have PIP backdated but your payments start from the date you made your claim.. confusion all around 

calcotti

For a DLA to PIP transfer any PIP award only takes place after the decision is made. The first payment is made about 7 weeks after the decision.

poppy123456

The rules have been the same since PIP was introduced in April 2013. Those that are transferring from DLA will not receive any money owed, if the PIP is a higher award than the DLA.

littlewing

it would appear that entitlement depends on what side of the application you are at..   you are not entitled to claim PIP prior to being 16 and you may not qualify for PIP at all during the assessment stage.  you can not transition from DLA to PIP automatically because you have to be assessed for qualification.  once assessed and informed of the qualification status of your application to a benefit it was impossible to be granted access to prior to the 16yrs you are then in reciept of what is a transitional benefit after assessment but not before.    i wounder why this is in such a confusing state

calcotti

I don’t see the confusion. You continue to get the existing benefit (DLA) until a decision is made on the new claim (PIP).

poppy123456

If you weren't entitled to the difference between the DLA and PIP awrd then it would mean that you were claiming both benefits at the same time, which isn't possible. If the PIP award was lower, you wouldn't expect to have to pay back any of the DLA award.

Although there's been an award of PIP given, this award doesn't start until after the DLA ends.