DWP PIP Back Pay Exercise: Claims Without a National Insurance Number

The Short Answer

The DWP paid around £660,000 in PIP arrears after reviewing around 510 cases of people without a National Insurance number, a report published on 15 September 2026 shows. Some had been wrongly told they could not claim PIP without one. Others were awarded PIP from the wrong date. The exercise ran from September 2023 to October 2025 and is complete. The DWP says it contacted everyone it identified, and anyone who thinks they were affected can still ask for a review.

What this means for your payments

• Who is affected: only people without a National Insurance number who were wrongly told they could not claim PIP, or who were awarded PIP from the wrong date. Nobody else is owed money under this exercise.
• What changes to your money or your payment date: people found to be owed were paid PIP arrears from the correct date. PIP rates and payment dates are unchanged for everyone.
• From when: the exercise ran from 12 September 2023 to 30 October 2025 and is complete.
• What you need to do: nothing, if the DWP has already reviewed your case. If you think you were affected and have not been contacted, you can ask the DWP to review your case.

The key facts from the DWP report, each with its source and the date it was checked:

Last checked: 30 September 2026

Who Was Affected by the PIP Administrative Exercise?

The PIP administrative exercise covered people without a National Insurance number who were wrongly told they could not claim PIP, or who were awarded PIP from the wrong date. The DWP report states that it was told in 2021, by stakeholders, that "some claimants without a NINo had been incorrectly advised that they could not make a claim to PIP without a NINo, or had been awarded PIP from the wrong date".

The rule the advice broke is set out in the same report. Claimants do not need a National Insurance number to claim PIP, but PIP cannot be paid without one. The report states that the application for a National Insurance number and the PIP application "should proceed at the same time". GOV.UK's claim guidance asks for your National Insurance number "if you have one".

The review was limited to "cases we were able to identify from DWP records". Its aim, the report states, was to ensure that "where there was an entitlement to PIP, it was also paid from the correct date". How backdating to the date of claim works more generally is explained in PIP Back Payments Explained.

How Much PIP Back Pay Did the DWP Pay?

DWP management information at 30 October 2025 shows around £660,000 paid in around 310 arrears payments, after around 510 cases were reviewed. Fewer than 10 cases had a mandatory reconsideration cleared, and no case affected by the exercise reached a tribunal decision.

Last checked: 30 September 2026

The DWP rounds figures between 0 and 1,000 to the nearest 10, so the counts are approximate. The report does not give the amount paid to any one person or the range of payments. How far PIP arrears can go back in other situations, and the maximum possible, are covered separately.

How the DWP Contacted People

The DWP says it has contacted everyone it identified as potentially affected, and that the cases available have been reviewed. The report states: "The Department has contacted all those it has identified as potentially impacted and the cases available have been reviewed."

The report does not describe the form of contact, such as a letter or a phone call. It also does not say how long a payment took to arrive after a review.

What to Do If You Think You Were Affected

You can still ask the DWP to review your case if you think you were affected, even though the exercise is complete. The report states: "Although we have completed the exercise, claimants can still ask the Department to conduct a review of their case, if they think they are affected."

The report does not name a contact route for that request. GOV.UK lists the PIP enquiry line for existing claims: 0800 121 4433, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. If the DWP makes a decision on your review and you disagree, GOV.UK states that you usually need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date of the decision.

Where a review moves the start date of your award, you can estimate how much back pay is owed between the corrected date and the original one.

Legal Status

The exercise was an administrative review under the DWP's existing duty, not a new rule or regulation. The report states: "The Department has a duty to restore legal entitlements. Where the Department becomes aware that these have been denied, an administrative exercise is required."

The figures are DWP management information "and not official statistics". The report was published on GOV.UK on 15 September 2026 and shows the position at 30 October 2025.

What Has Not Changed

PIP rates, eligibility and payment dates are unchanged, and the exercise does not mean that other claimants are owed arrears. It covered only the around 510 cases the DWP identified from its records as needing a review. The rule itself is unchanged: you can claim PIP without a National Insurance number, but PIP cannot be paid without one.

What Happens Next

The DWP will publish no further reports on this exercise. The report states: "There will be no future releases; this administrative exercise is complete." It names 2 places for further information: the DWP's PIP statistics and its benefit expenditure and caseload tables.