Download the app
© 2026. The Purpl Co Limited. All rights reserved.
Download the app
© 2026. The Purpl Co Limited. All rights reserved.
6 min read
Written by
Georgina, Founder of Purpl
Published on
September 11, 2026
Last reviewed: 11 September 2026
Applies to: DWP PIP claims, primarily in England and Wales
Written by: Georgina, Founder of Purpl
PIP will remain a non-means-tested cash benefit under the government’s commitment, which the latest Timms Review update reinforces. For disabled people worried about losing control over how they spend their support, that is an important reassurance. The government confirms its commitment on the official Timms Review page.
Alongside this, DWP has published figures showing shorter average award-review times. The review’s co-chairs have also outlined ideas for changing assessments.
There is one distinction to keep in mind: the proposed assessment pathways are not new rules already in force. Here is what the announcements mean, what remains under discussion and how you can prepare for your own PIP review.
The government’s stated commitment is to keep PIP as a cash benefit. This update does not announce a replacement voucher or catalogue scheme.
Non-means-tested means your income and savings do not determine how much PIP you receive. You can also qualify while working, provided you meet the eligibility rules. The official PIP payment guidance explains how this works.
For disabled people, choice matters. Your extra costs may look very different from someone else’s, even if you have the same diagnosis. Keeping support in cash allows you to decide how to use it around your circumstances.
Purpl Insight: Financial independence includes having a say in how you meet your own needs.
The mean average award-review clearance time was 25 weeks in 2025/26, according to a parliamentary answer published on 8 September 2026.
The same answer gives these figures:
| Financial year | Mean average clearance time |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 40 weeks |
| 2024/25 | 39 weeks |
| 2025/26 | 25 weeks |
These are financial-year averages for completed reviews. They are not a promise that your review will take 25 weeks, or a live estimate of how much longer you have to wait.
DWP also says it now makes most award-review decisions without an assessment by a healthcare professional where it has sufficient information. That does not mean everyone can avoid an assessment, or that sending evidence guarantees a particular outcome.
You can read the figures and explanation in the written parliamentary answer on PIP review waiting times.
Purpl Tip: Keep your review letters together with a note of when you returned your form and any supporting information.
Yes. PIP continues while DWP reviews your claim. The official award-review guidance confirms this.
The parliamentary answer also says DWP will backdate increases identified during a planned review as appropriate. That wording matters: it does not promise that every increase starts from the same date.
Continued payments during the review do not guarantee an unchanged award afterwards. DWP may keep, increase, reduce or stop an award following its decision.
You still need to respond to review requests. Check the deadline on your form and contact the PIP enquiry line if you need more time.
Purpl Tip: If completing the form feels overwhelming, ask for help early rather than waiting until the return deadline.
The September update from co-chairs Sir Stephen Timms, Dr Clenton Farquharson and Sharon Brennan sets out emerging recommendations, ahead of a final report later this autumn.
Ideas include:
The co-chairs will test and refine the proposals before finalising their recommendations. The update does not establish a start date or a new entitlement to a particular pathway. Read the September Timms Review update.
Existing PIP guidance already requires consideration of reliability and changing needs. These proposals should not be described as the first recognition that symptoms can fluctuate.
Purpl Insight: A useful assessment needs to understand what daily life involves across time, including the effort and recovery that an appointment may not reveal.
Start with what happens in everyday life. A diagnosis provides context, but practical examples help explain the support you need.
Under the current rules, assessors must consider whether you can carry out relevant activities:
These requirements appear in the PIP assessment guidance on reliability.
Rather than writing only “cooking is difficult”, explain what makes it difficult. Do you need someone to chop ingredients? Does standing cause pain? Have you had to stop because it became unsafe?
Record better days as well as difficult ones. Include how often problems happen, what help you need and whether an activity leaves you unable to repeat it later.
Citizens Advice recommends explaining how you manage across good and bad days and describing your current difficulties even if nothing has changed. Its PIP review-form guide also explains supporting information.
Purpl Tip: Use specific examples that reflect your experience. If you estimate how often something happens, make clear that it is an estimate.
Remembering several weeks of symptoms when a review form arrives can be difficult. A diary gives you somewhere to record what happened while it is still fresh.
The free Purpl PIP & ADP Tracker lets you keep a daily diary and create a PDF report from your entries for a chosen period.
Use your notes to capture details such as:
A tracker can help you organise an accurate account. It cannot guarantee an award or replace the review form and other relevant evidence. To find out more and to download visit piptracker.co.uk
Purpl Tip: A short, honest entry is a useful starting point. You do not need polished wording to describe your own day.
The government remains committed to PIP as a non-means-tested cash benefit. Current rules allow people to receive PIP while working or having savings, if they meet the other eligibility requirements.
No. It describes the mean average clearance time for reviews completed in 2025/26. Individual waiting times vary.
No. The September update presents light-touch PIP initial assessments as emerging recommendations. It does not announce their introduction as an operational pathway.
Yes. DWP may need more information before making a decision. Providing supporting evidence does not guarantee a review without an assessment.
This is a PIP update, not an announcement of changes to Adult Disability Payment. People living in Scotland apply for ADP instead of making a new PIP claim. Northern Ireland also has separate PIP arrangements, which the official eligibility guidance signposts.
The government remains committed to keeping PIP as a non-means-tested cash benefit. DWP reports shorter average award-review times, and payments continue while it reviews your claim.
The proposed assessment changes, including simpler initial assessments and better recognition of fluctuating conditions, are still recommendations rather than new rules.
For now, respond to review requests on time and explain how your condition affects everyday life, including better and more difficult days. The free Purpl PIP & ADP Tracker can help you organise those experiences into supporting information.
Georgina is the Founder of Purpl, a disabled-led UK discount platform created to help offset the extra cost of disability.
Living with Multiple Sclerosis and ADHD, and using an ambulatory wheelchair, Georgina writes from lived experience about disability benefits, financial pressure, accessibility, health self-advocacy and the reality of managing long-term conditions in the UK.
Purpl’s UK Disability Benefits and Support Handbook: Explore disability benefits and other support that could help with your household’s extra costs.
Purpl PIP Tracker: free daily symptom diary for PIP and ADP claims, reviews and appeals: Record daily difficulties and build useful evidence for a future claim, review, mandatory reconsideration or appeal.
Why PIP award reviews are so stressful for people with lifelong conditions: Understand what an award review involves, why it can feel overwhelming and how to prepare.
Step-by-step guide to preparing for a PIP assessment: Get practical guidance on gathering evidence, explaining your daily difficulties and asking for adjustments.
PIP discounts and freebies: make more of your benefits: Discover concessions, discounts and additional support you may qualify for if you receive PIP.
Household essentials discounts: Browse current offers across homeware, cleaning products and appliances.
Morrisons discounts: Save 10% on eligible online grocery orders with a £25 minimum spend.
Dunelm discounts: Explore 5% off offers online and in-store for bedding, curtains and household essentials.
Hoover Direct discounts: Get 20% off full-price products if you need to replace a household appliance.