Why Fewer People Are Getting PIP This Year

The number of new Personal Independence Payment awards has continued falling this year, extending a decline that has brought monthly figures well below the levels seen during the post pandemic peak, according to analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. New claimant numbers reached roughly 27,000 per month in the most recent data, representing a 37 percent decline from the average recorded between September 2023 and September 2024, though still 38 percent higher than pre pandemic levels.

Prior to the pandemic, new PIP awards ran relatively steadily at around 19,000 per month. Starting in mid 2021, that figure climbed sharply, eventually fluctuating around 42,000 monthly awards during the post pandemic peak period. The subsequent decline that began unfolding through 2025 has now become more sustained, according to the latest available data covering the period through earlier this year.

Analysts point to three distinct factors driving this decline. Fewer people are applying for PIP in the first place, with monthly applications falling to around 64,000 by the end of last year, down from 74,000 during the peak period. Simultaneously, the approval rate among those who do apply has dropped considerably, falling from 54 percent at the peak to just 46 percent in the most recent data. A slight increase in scheduled reassessments has also contributed to slowing the growth of the overall PIP caseload.

That reassessment trend has picked up pace this year, with the share of PIP recipients undergoing scheduled reassessment climbing from an average of 1.2 percent monthly during 2023 and 2024 to 1.7 percent in the six months through January this year. However, the practical impact of increased reassessment activity on overall caseload numbers has remained relatively modest, since 89 percent of reassessments conducted last year still resulted in the claimant's award continuing rather than being reduced or removed entirely.

This declining trend in new awards arrives against the backdrop of broader government reforms to disability benefits working their way through Parliament and into implementation this year. Under measures set to take effect from November, eligibility requirements for PIP's daily living component will tighten considerably, requiring claimants to score at least four points from a single assessment activity rather than accumulating lower scores across multiple different activities as the current system allows.

Government officials have projected these eligibility changes could result in approximately 800,000 people not receiving the daily living component of PIP by 2029-30 who would have qualified under existing rules, split between current recipients losing entitlement at their next award review and future applicants who would have qualified under the old criteria. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has called on the government to delay these specific changes until a broader review of the PIP assessment process concludes.

Some Labour backbenchers have raised concerns about the pace and transparency of these changes, with several MPs pressing ministers during parliamentary debate to clarify exactly how current claimants will be affected as the new criteria take hold. Critics have warned the changes could push some disabled claimants toward financial hardship, while government officials maintain the reforms will help focus support specifically on those with the highest level of need.

As these various reforms continue rolling out through the remainder of this year and into 2027, the combination of declining new award numbers, increased reassessment activity, and tightening eligibility criteria points toward a period of substantial change for how Britain's disability benefit system operates, with the full effects likely becoming clearer only once the November eligibility changes take full effect.