The Short Answer
PIP runs from 16 to State Pension age for a new claim, and an existing award continues past State Pension age. GOV.UK states you must be 16 or over and usually under State Pension age to claim. There is one exception for new claims above that age: you can claim if you received PIP or Adult Disability Payment in the last 12 months.
The Age Rules
The table below sets out the position, with each figure taken from the source named beneath it.
| Situation | Position |
|---|---|
| Under 16 | Disability Living Allowance for children, not PIP |
| 16 to State Pension age | PIP, on the ordinary rules |
| Over State Pension age, new claim | Attendance Allowance instead, unless the 12-month rule applies |
| Over State Pension age, existing award | PIP continues |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
GOV.UK states the general position: "You can get PIP if all of the following apply to you: you're 16 or over ... You also usually need to be under State Pension age to make a new PIP claim."
The 12-Month Exception
A new claim above State Pension age is possible where PIP was in payment recently. GOV.UK states: "You can make a new claim for PIP if you got PIP or Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in the last 12 months."
That covers people whose award lapsed shortly before reaching State Pension age and who would otherwise be pushed onto Attendance Allowance, which has no mobility component at all. Where the gap is under a year, the PIP route is worth checking before assuming Attendance Allowance is the only option.
Reaching State Pension Age on an Award
Nothing ends. An award in payment continues past State Pension age, and reviews continue on the normal cycle.
The review cycle is what to watch. A first PIP award runs for between 9 months and 10 years depending on whether the needs are likely to change, and the review form is returned within 1 month.
The practical caution is about gaps rather than age. Where an award expires after State Pension age and no review was started, a new claim may no longer be available, and the alternative benefit has different components. That makes acting promptly on a review letter more consequential in this group than in any other.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Turning 16
The DWP starts the process. Young people on Disability Living Allowance for children are invited to claim PIP as they approach 16, and there is nothing to do until that letter arrives.
The two benefits use different criteria, so the transfer is a fresh assessment rather than a continuation. PIP is scored against 12 activities — 10 for daily living and 2 for mobility — and child DLA is not scored that way at all. A DLA award gives no guaranteed PIP equivalent.
Above State Pension Age Without a Recent Award
Attendance Allowance is the equivalent benefit. It has no mobility component, which is the difference that matters most to people weighing the two. PIP mobility pays £30.30 a week at the standard rate and £80.00 at the enhanced rate in 2026/27, and Attendance Allowance pays nothing equivalent.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
The comparison, including what each pays and what each assesses, is on PIP vs Attendance Allowance.
The Other Eligibility Tests
Age is one test among several. The difficulties must also have lasted 3 months already, and be ones GOV.UK describes as ones "you expect ... to last for at least 12 months from when they started".
Duration, frequency and residence apply alongside it, and all of them are on who qualifies.
What happens at the lower boundary — the invitation, the fresh assessment and what happens to the DLA award meanwhile — is set out on From Child DLA to PIP at 16.