About 150,000 working-age people in Britain still hold a disability living allowance award, including lifetime and indefinite awards. The Department for Work and Pensions is restarting the move to personal independence payment. It is a fresh claim against current PIP rules, and the outcome is not guaranteed.
For years, a “lifetime” or “indefinite” award of the UK’s disability living allowance meant what it sounded like: the benefit was in place, and no one was going to ask again. Around 150,000 working-age people in Britain still hold one. The government is now preparing to ask again.
The Department for Work and Pensions is restarting a long-stalled project to move the remaining working-age recipients of disability living allowance (DLA) onto personal independence payment (PIP), the benefit that replaced it. For people who were told, in effect, that their support was settled, the message has changed. As Citizens Advice explains it, at some point “you’ll need to claim PIP instead of DLA, even if you have a ‘lifetime’ or ‘indefinite’ award for DLA.”
How the change works
PIP was introduced in 2013 as the working-age replacement for DLA, a switch the government of the day said was designed to cut spending on the benefit by 20 per cent. The transfer of existing DLA claimants to PIP began, then stalled, and has been paused since 2020. More than a decade on, roughly 150,000 working-age people are still on DLA. According to Disability News Service, more than a quarter of them receive the highest rate of the care component, a marker of high support needs.
Moving to PIP is not a paperwork formality. It is a fresh claim against current PIP rules, and the outcome is not guaranteed. Citizens Advice puts it plainly: “Many people on DLA will qualify for PIP but it isn’t guaranteed. If the DWP say you can’t get PIP, your DLA will stop.” A Motability vehicle can be caught in the same decision, because the mobility component is reassessed and the enhanced rate needed to keep a leased car is, as Citizens Advice notes, “harder to get on PIP.”
The DWP says it is not rushing. In a statement to Disability News Service, a spokesperson said: “We are not currently resuming the transfer of remaining adult claimants on DLA to PIP.” The department said it is “reviewing a random sample of 3,000 cases, and the findings will help determine any additional support needed, including safeguarding measures, when active transfers resume.” That review is expected to begin in September.
Why campaigners are uneasy
Disability organizations have raised concerns, and their objections are on the record. The Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People questions both the timing and the method. Its spokesperson Rick Burgess told Disability News Service that the cohort left on DLA is likely made up of “some of the most complex cases with people with the highest support needs,” and argued that “the DWP could do all the work of transferring to PIP themselves and not endanger these claimants.”
The specific worry is the “invitation” method, under which people are asked to submit a new PIP claim rather than being moved across automatically. Burgess said the department “know[s] this will mean several thousand claims will not be taken up,” which he warned “will leave thousands of disabled people in life-threatening extreme poverty.” Campaigners point to the recent migration of about 880,000 people from employment and support allowance to universal credit, during which, DWP figures show, nearly 23,000 people did not make the move and had their claims closed.
That concern has a name attached to it. Philippa Day, a 27-year-old from Nottingham, died in 2019 after her DLA was stopped when the department did not receive a PIP reassessment form she had posted. A coroner later found that flaws in the PIP system were connected to her death. Disability News Service reported that in the years before she died there were roughly 20,000 DLA “disallowances” a year from people who had not returned the reassessment form, a figure that fell sharply afterwards. The government says it is committed to making sure people in vulnerable situations get support during any migration.
The Canadian echo
Canada does not run a single national benefit of DLA’s kind, so there is no exact parallel. But the underlying idea, that a disability award once granted is not necessarily permanent, is familiar here. Federal access runs through the Disability Tax Credit, which is now the gateway to the Canada Disability Benefit, and DTC eligibility is reviewed rather than granted once and forgotten. Provincial income supports carry their own periodic reviews. The lesson Canadian readers can take from Britain is less about the specific benefit than about the moment of transition itself: reassessment is where support is most likely to be interrupted, and where a missed letter or a tight deadline can cost the most. For a fuller picture of how the Canadian pieces fit together, see our 2026 update on the Disability Tax Credit and the Canada Disability Benefit.
For the 150,000 people in Britain waiting to find out when their letter arrives, the practical reality is the one Citizens Advice underlines: once the DWP writes, the clock starts, and a DLA award that felt permanent depends on answering in time.
If this topic is difficult for you, you are not alone. In Canada, the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline is available 24 hours a day by phone or text at 9-8-8.
Sources
- Pring, J. “DWP warned as it begins another ‘life-threatening’ disability benefits migration project.” Disability News Service, 30 July 2026. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-warned-as-it-begins-another-life-threatening-disability-benefits-migration-project/
- “Moving from DLA to PIP.” Citizens Advice, reviewed 14 February 2022. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/if-you-get-dla/
- “Changes to benefits for disabled people.” House of Commons Library, Research Briefing CBP-10283, published 13 June 2025. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10283/
- “Canada Disability Benefit” and “Disability tax credit (DTC): Who is eligible.” Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/disability/canada-disability-benefit.html and https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/segments/tax-credits-deductions-persons-disabilities/disability-tax-credit/eligible-dtc.html
- 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline (Canada). https://988.ca/
Does a lifetime DLA award still get reassessed?
Yes. As Citizens Advice explains it, at some point you will need to claim PIP instead of DLA, even if you have a lifetime or indefinite award for DLA. Roughly 150,000 working-age people in Britain are still on DLA and, according to Disability News Service, more than a quarter of them receive the highest rate of the care component.
Is moving from DLA to PIP a formality?
No. It is a fresh claim against current PIP rules, and the outcome is not guaranteed. Citizens Advice puts it plainly: many people on DLA will qualify for PIP but it isn’t guaranteed, and if the DWP say you can’t get PIP, your DLA will stop.
What happens to a Motability vehicle?
It can be caught in the same decision, because the mobility component is reassessed. Citizens Advice notes that the enhanced rate needed to keep a leased car is harder to get on PIP.
When do the transfers resume?
The DWP told Disability News Service it is not currently resuming the transfer of remaining adult claimants on DLA to PIP. It said it is reviewing a random sample of 3,000 cases, and the findings will help determine any additional support needed, including safeguarding measures, when active transfers resume. That review is expected to begin in September.
Why are campaigners concerned?
The Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People argues the cohort left on DLA is likely made up of some of the most complex cases with people with the highest support needs, and objects to the invitation method under which people are asked to submit a new claim rather than being moved across automatically. Campaigners point to the migration of about 880,000 people from employment and support allowance to universal credit, during which nearly 23,000 people did not make the move and had their claims closed.
