The Short Answer
A PIP refusal starts a one-month clock for a mandatory reconsideration, and that is the step to take first. Read the points section of the decision letter to find the activities scored below your account, then address those activities directly with evidence. A new claim would start a new date and lose the money for the refused period; a challenge keeps the original claim date and the back pay it earns.
What to Do in the First Week
Four things, in order, none of which takes long. The deadline is 1 month from the date on the letter, and a late request can still be accepted up to 13 months where there are reasons for the delay.
- Note the deadline. Write the date one month from the letter's date somewhere you will see it.
- Read the points section. It names the descriptor chosen for each of the twelve activities. Two or three rows normally carry the disagreement.
- Request the assessment report. Ask the DWP or the assessment provider. It shows the reasoning behind each descriptor, including any observations made at the appointment.
- Ask for a mandatory reconsideration. By phone, by letter, or on the mandatory reconsideration form, saying which activities are wrong and why.
The request can be made before the report arrives. Getting the request in within the month is what protects the position; the detail can follow.
Why a Challenge Beats a New Claim
A new claim starts a new date, and the refused period stops being recoverable. That is the single most consequential difference between the two routes.
A challenge keeps the original claim date. Where it succeeds, the award is backdated to that date and every week since is paid as arrears. A fresh claim made six months after a refusal, even if awarded, pays from the new claim date and leaves those six months unpaid.
At the 2026/27 enhanced daily living rate, six months is roughly £2,980. That is the cost of choosing the wrong route, and it is why the deadline matters more than the paperwork.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
What Changes an Outcome
New material addressed to specific descriptors. It is worth doing: 27% of mandatory reconsiderations cleared in the quarter ending January 2026 changed the award, against 17% across initial decisions from October 2020 to September 2025. A reconsideration that repeats the original claim asks a decision maker to reach a different conclusion from identical papers.
The elements that work are narrow:
- The activity and the descriptor. Name the activity, say which descriptor you say applies, and quote it.
- What happens when you attempt the task. Including what follows it, which is what the repeatability test asks about.
- How often. In days per week, because the test is more than half the days.
- The document. A care plan, a prescription list, an occupational therapy assessment, a statement from someone who helps you.
Where the assessment report records something inaccurate, say what was actually said. Where an observation at the appointment has been used to score an activity, describe the ordinary day it does not represent.
What the Figures Show
Both stages change a meaningful share of decisions. The published series measure different things and should not be added together.
| Stage | Outcome | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory reconsideration | 27% led to a change in award | Quarter ending January 2026 |
| Mandatory reconsideration | 17% resulted in a change in award | Initial decisions Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 |
| Appeals lodged | 20% lapsed — the DWP changed the decision before the hearing | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 |
| Tribunal hearings | 65% overturned in the claimant's favour | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
These are population figures, not odds for a particular case. What they establish is that a refusal is not a final answer, and that the stages after it are used by a small minority of claimants: only 7% of initial decisions were appealed at all. The full picture is on the PIP Appeal Success Rates page.
Getting Help
Free advice is available, and GOV.UK names where. Appealing is free, and 65% of the DWP decisions cleared at a tribunal hearing between October 2020 and September 2025 were revised in the claimant's favour. Citizens Advice, Advicenow and Advicelocal are listed in its own guidance, and appealing costs nothing.
A welfare rights adviser is most useful at two points: deciding which descriptors to argue, and preparing for a hearing. Neither requires a solicitor, and legal aid is available only for the Upper Tribunal stage.
The Next Step
Ask for the reconsideration, then decide about the tribunal when the notice arrives. Most people do go on: 33% of completed reconsiderations were followed by an appeal, and a further 20% of appeals lodged were lapsed because the DWP changed the decision before the hearing. The process, the wording to use and what the notice contains are on the check mandatory reconsideration page.
The whole route from refusal to hearing, with the deadlines at each stage, is on the PIP Appeals page.