The Short Answer
A PIP renewal is a review, not a new claim, and the difference is worth money. Where the DWP starts a review before the award's end date, the existing entitlement continues and payments carry on while it is decided. Where an award ends first, a new claim is needed and it starts from its own date, leaving a gap that is not recoverable.
Two Routes With Very Different Consequences
The table below sets out the position, with each figure taken from the source named beneath it.
| Review before the end date | New claim after the award ended | |
|---|---|---|
| Entitlement | Continues | Starts fresh |
| Payments meanwhile | Continue at the existing rate | None until the new decision |
| Backdating | To the date any change arose | To the new claim date only |
| What starts it | The DWP | You |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The bottom-left cell is why the renewal letter matters more than it looks. A review keeps the money flowing; a lapsed award does not.
What the Decision Letter Tells You
The end date, and whether a review is planned. GOV.UK states that the letter you got when your PIP was approved "will tell you when your claim will end and if it will be reviewed".
Noting both dates somewhere other than the letter is a five-minute job that prevents the most avoidable gap in payment there is. Where the letter has been lost, the PIP enquiry line on 0800 121 4433 can confirm the award period and issue a copy.
The Renewal Form
The same "Personal Independence Payment Review" form, returned within one month. GOV.UK directs anyone needing more time to contact the enquiry line rather than simply returning it late.
Complete it as a fresh account of function now, not as a comparison with the last award. The assessment applies the same twelve activities and the same descriptors, and a form that says "as before" leaves them unanswered.
Where things have deteriorated, say so and say when. An increase at review is backdated to the date the changed entitlement arose, so the date matters as much as the description.
What Can Change
Anything. GOV.UK states that "if your needs have changed, your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped". A renewal is a fresh look at entitlement, not a confirmation exercise.
Any resulting decision carries the same one-month deadline for a mandatory reconsideration as any other PIP decision.
Preparing Before the Letter Arrives
Two things are worth having ready. A copy of the form that supported the current award, or the points section of the current decision letter, which shows what the award rests on. And anything acquired since — clinic letters, a changed prescription list, an occupational therapy assessment.
GOV.UK asks for "any supporting information you have not shared with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before", so previously sent documents do not need resending.
The Wider Process
What a review involves at each step is on review process hub, and how award lengths are set is on award durations.