Sending your PIP claim form

When you’ve finished filling in the ‘How your disability affects you’ form, you need to send it back to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - or submit the online form if they sent you a link.

You must send back the same form the DWP sent you. You can’t get a copy of the form from an advice centre or print and send a version you found online.

Make a copy of your form 

It’s a good idea to make a copy of your completed form. You can then take it with you to your assessment and use it to make sure that you don’t forget anything you want to mention at your assessment.

If you can’t copy, scan or print your form at home, you can ask at your local Citizens Advice or public library. You might have to pay a small charge.

Check how to send the form

If the DWP sent you a link to the online form by email, check the instructions they sent you about how to submit it.

If they sent you a form by post, the address to send it to will be on the back page of the form or the envelope it came with. If you can’t find it, call the phone number on the letter that came with the form.

When you post the form, ask the Post Office for free proof of postage - you might need to show when you sent it.

Sending your PIP form back on time

You should send the form back or submit the online form within 1 month of the date on the letter or email. You can ask the DWP for more time if you have a good reason.

If you don’t send or submit the form in time, the DWP will end your claim.  

If you’re waiting for evidence to support your claim

You should send or submit the form on time even if you’re waiting for evidence - for example a hospital or doctor’s letter. Tell the DWP you’re waiting for evidence - you can either:

• send them a letter with the form if you’re posting it

• call the PIP enquiry line

If you send documents later, you can use our template letter to explain that you're sending evidence after your claim.

If you need to ask for more time to send the form

Ring the DWP as soon as possible and explain why you need extra time. If the 1 month time limit has passed, you can still ask for extra time - unless the DWP have sent you a letter that says they’ve ended your claim.

Explain why you can’t send or submit the form on time and why it's reasonable for you to be given more time. If the 1 month time limit has passed, explain why you couldn’t ask them earlier.

If you have a good reason for sending or submitting the form late, the DWP might agree a new deadline over the phone - this is called an ‘extension’.

If the DWP agrees to give you an extension, you should write to them and confirm they've told you this. You should include a copy of any evidence of the reason you needed the extension - for example a letter showing you're going into hospital for an operation.

To help you, use our template letter to confirm to the DWP that you have an extension.

When you’re ready to send or submit your form, you should include another copy of this letter and your evidence with your form. If you’re filling in the online form, put what you told the enquiry line in the ‘Additional information’ question on the form.

If the DWP don’t give you an extension, try to send or submit your PIP form on time if you can.

If the DWP ends your PIP claim

You should start a new claim as soon as possible. Check how to make a new PIP claim.

If there was a good reason why you couldn’t send or submit the original form on time, you can send it late and challenge the DWP’s decision to end your claim. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the letter that says they’ve ended your claim. Check how to challenge a PIP decision.

It’s still worth making a new claim at the same time as challenging the decision. This means you’ll be assessed for PIP even if your challenge doesn’t succeed.

Check what happens after you’ve sent the form

You’ll usually have to go to an assessment to check how your condition affects you. The DWP will write to you to tell you when the assessment will be. Check how to prepare for the PIP assessment.

The DWP might take a long time before they write to you. If you’re worried, you can call the PIP enquiry line to check they’ve got your form.