What happens to your Personal Independence Payments if you go into hospital?
The PIP benefit is paid to people living with disabilities and mental health conditions to help with their costs. The Department for Work and Pensions has now clarified what happens to scheduled payments and PIP entitlement following a hospital stay which lasts longer than 28 days.
The information was shared by Minister for Disabled People Tom Pursglove MP, in response to a query from Labour MP Beth Winter who asked the DWP if the rules may put people off seeking medical help if it will affect their PIP award. However, Mr Pursglove made it quite clear there is "no evidence that the policy may affect an individual’s decisions to seek medical care".
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In the written response earlier this week, the DWP minister explained that when someone goes into hospital and is receiving daily care from the NHS it is only their payments which stop, not their entitlement to PIP. Once someone is discharged from hospital, payment of PIP restarts from the date of discharge, reports The Daily Record.
Mr Pursglove said: "Where an adult aged 18 or over is maintained free of charge, while undergoing medical or other treatment as an in-patient in a hospital or similar institution funded by the NHS, payment of (but not entitlement to) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ceases after 28 days.
"This is on the basis that the NHS is responsible for not only the person’s medical care, but also the entirety of their disability-related extra costs and, to pay PIP in addition, would be a duplication of public funds intended for the same purpose. "
He added: "Once someone is discharged from hospital, payment of PIP recommences from the date of discharge." And directly addressing Ms Winter’s query he said: "We have no evidence that the policy may affect an individual’s decisions to seek medical care."
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