Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a crucial benefit for many sick and disabled people. It is designed to help with the extra costs of being sick or having a disability, such as additional heating, additional travel costs, special diets, or specialist equipment. Its predecessor, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), has often been a mainstay for some of the most vulnerable clients attending citizens advice bureaux (CAB), particularly when there have been administrative problems with income-replacement benefits.
Scottish bureaux have been supporting clients to claim PIP since the benefit was first introduced in Scotland in June 2013. Since January 2014, the process of PIP reassessment was rolled out to a large swathe of Scotland, amounting to around half of the DLA caseload in Scotland. CAS carried out a survey of bureau advisers in August 20141 to find out the experiences of those making applications for Personal Independent Payment. This report looks at the feedback from bureaux, clients and advisers.