The Short Answer
A PIP review starts with a form to return within one month, and payments continue at the existing rate throughout. GOV.UK sets out five steps, from the letter through to the decision. The review is a fresh look at entitlement, so an award can be increased, reduced or stopped. What decides the outcome is the same thing that decided the original award: the descriptors, and the evidence for them.
What a Review Is
A scheduled reassessment of an existing award, set when the award was made. GOV.UK states that "the letter you got when your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was approved will tell you when your claim will end and if it will be reviewed".
Award length is set by whether needs are likely to change rather than by condition. GOV.UK puts the range at "between 9 months and 10 years" for a first award, and the full picture is on the PIP Award Lengths page.
The Five Steps
GOV.UK sets out the sequence, and it is short.
- You get a letter asking you to fill in a form called 'Personal Independence Payment Review'.
- You fill in the form using the notes that come with it.
- You send the form and any supporting information not shared with the DWP before, within 1 month.
- The DWP reviews the form. Where more information is needed, an independent health professional might phone you or invite you to an assessment, in person, over the phone or by video call.
- You get a letter telling you what will happen with your PIP.
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Not every review reaches step 4. Where the form and the existing evidence are enough, a decision follows without any further contact.
Payments Continue Throughout
GOV.UK states it plainly: "You will continue to get PIP while your claim is being reviewed." The existing rate keeps being paid on the existing cycle until a new decision is made.
That removes the most common worry about reviews, and it also removes the urgency people sometimes attach to them. A review taking months costs nothing while it runs.
How Long Does a PIP Review Take?
The review form must be returned within 1 month, but the DWP publishes no median time for deciding a planned award review, and payments continue at the existing rate until the decision is made. GOV.UK states: "You'll need to return it within 1 month. Contact the PIP enquiry line if you need more time." The DWP's quarterly statistics publish clearance times for new claims, 18 weeks from registration to decision in July 2026, and for DLA reassessments, but not for award reviews, so any single figure quoted for reviews is an estimate. Where the form and existing evidence are enough, a decision follows without further contact. Where an assessment is arranged, the review takes longer by the time it takes to schedule and report on it.
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What a Review Can Change
Three outcomes, and all of them are live. GOV.UK states that "if your needs have changed, your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped".
| Outcome | What follows |
|---|---|
| Increased | Arrears from the date the increased entitlement arose, then the higher rate |
| Unchanged | The award continues, with a new end or review date |
| Reduced | The lower rate from the date the decision takes effect |
| Stopped | Payments end from the date the decision takes effect |
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Any of those can be challenged. A review decision carries the same one-month deadline for a mandatory reconsideration as any other PIP decision.
How Often Does a PIP Review Change the Award?
Most planned reviews leave the award the same or higher: of 2.3 million planned award reviews from August 2021 to July 2026, the DWP reports that 79% resulted in an increase or no change.
| Outcome of a planned award review | Share, August 2021 to July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Award increased | 14% |
| Award maintained | 65% |
| Award decreased | 5% |
| Award disallowed | 16% |
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Source: DWP, Personal Independence Payment statistics to July 2026, published 15 September 2026, covering England and Wales. The shares describe past reviews across all claimants. They do not predict an individual outcome, which turns on the descriptors and the evidence sent with the form.
What Is a PIP Mobility Review?
There is no separate mobility-only review: a PIP review looks at both components, and the review form asks about the two mobility activities alongside the daily living ones. GOV.UK states that if your needs have changed, "your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped", and each component is decided on its own points. The mobility result matters beyond the weekly rate, because the Motability Scheme needs the enhanced mobility rate with at least 12 months of the award left. For planning and following journeys and moving around, answer with distances in metres, real landmarks and the help you need on most days.
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How to Complete the Form
As a fresh account, returned within the 1 month GOV.UK allows, not as a comparison with last time. The form asks how your condition affects the assessed activities now, and the decision maker is applying the same descriptors to that account. Since 2 June 2026, a fixed-term award can be extended without a review, keeping the same rate.
Three habits matter more than length:
- Describe the ordinary day. The majority-of-days rule applies at review exactly as it does on a new claim.
- Include what has got harder. A review that only confirms the previous position understates a deterioration, and increases at review are backdated to when the change arose.
- Send new evidence. Anything acquired since the last decision — clinic letters, a new prescription, an occupational therapy assessment, a support plan.
What each section asks and how to answer it is covered on the The PIP Review Form (AR1) page.
What Happens If You Do Not Return the Review Form?
Not returning the form without good reason ends the award: regulation 8 of the PIP Regulations 2013 allows "one month from the date of the request" and then requires "a negative determination". The period can be longer where the DWP considers it "reasonable in the circumstances of the particular case", which is why GOV.UK directs anyone who needs more time to contact the PIP enquiry line before the deadline. A decision to stop the award on this ground is still a decision, so it can be challenged by mandatory reconsideration within one month where there was a good reason for the delay.
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Reporting Changes Between Reviews
Some changes must be reported straight away, and do not wait for a review. GOV.UK lists them, and the list includes needing more or less help, a change in how long the condition is expected to last, going into hospital or a care home, and going abroad for more than 4 weeks.
Reporting an increase in needs can lead to a higher award backdated to the date of the change. The full list, and what each change does to an award, is on the PIP Change of Circumstances page.
Keeping Up With Changes to the Rules
The review figures on this page come from GOV.UK and the DWP's quarterly PIP statistics, most recently the release to July 2026. Reviews are the part of PIP most affected by policy change, and the current position is set out on the PIP News and Changes page.
Where a review increases an award, the difference for the period since the change arose is paid as arrears. How pip back pay works covers how that is priced.
Reaching State Pension age does not end an award or trigger a review, and reviews continue on the normal cycle after it. What does change is the ability to make a new claim, which is set out on PIP at State Pension Age.
Related guidance: Light-Touch PIP Reviews, PIP Stopped or Suspended, PIP Renewals.