A PIP claimant turning 66 hears two contradictory things: that PIP stops at pension age, and that it carries on. Both are half right. The law bars a new entitlement after State Pension age and then makes exceptions for awards that already exist, so the award continues, is reviewed, and keeps its mobility part, but a fresh claim is closed and the route becomes Attendance Allowance.
A new claim closes at State Pension age
GOV.UK says you usually need to be under State Pension age to make a new PIP claim, and that if you are over it you cannot usually make a new claim and can apply for Attendance Allowance instead (GOV.UK, Personal Independence Payment (PIP): eligibility, checked 1 November 2026).
The law behind it says a person is not entitled to either component for any period after reaching pensionable age, or 65 if that is higher, subject to exceptions in regulations (Welfare Reform Act 2012, section 83, checked 1 November 2026).
The one door left open is recent PIP. GOV.UK says you can make a new claim if you got PIP or Adult Disability Payment in the last 12 months. Our Attendance Allowance hub covers the claim for everyone else, and the PIP or DLA section there explains why the two rarely overlap.
An existing award carries on
The regulations say the pension-age bar does not apply where the person was entitled to an award on the day before reaching that age, or had made a claim before it that was not decided until after (Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, regulation 25, checked 1 November 2026).
So an award in payment at 66 continues at the same rates, uprated each April, for as long as it runs and through its reviews. Nothing has to be done at the birthday. A claim made at 65 and eleven months and decided at 66 and two months is protected the same way.
The mobility part can be kept but not raised
The exceptions come with a limit. Where someone over pension age claims again within a year of an award ending, the regulations say they get the enhanced mobility rate only if they had it under the previous award, and the standard rate only if they had at least that (regulation 26, checked 1 November 2026).
Regulation 27 restricts increases to the mobility part when an award is changed, revised or superseded in the DWP’s words, after pension age for a change that happened after it (regulation 27, checked 1 November 2026).
In plain terms, the mobility part is frozen at pension age: it can be kept at its rate, but walking getting worse after 66 does not raise it. The daily living part is not frozen, and a review can move it up or down. That is the reason to report a mobility deterioration before pension age rather than after.
Reviews after pension age
GOV.UK says you will get a letter asking you to fill in a form called Personal Independence Payment Review, to be returned within one month (GOV.UK, Personal Independence Payment (PIP): if your PIP claim is reviewed, checked 1 November 2026). The DWP’s guide to its assessors names two forms, and which one arrives depends on the length of the award.
Awards of up to ten years get an award review form, AR1. Ongoing awards due for review at the ten-year point get a shorter form, AR2, which the guide says in most cases is completed by a DWP case manager without a health professional (PIP assessment guide, part 1, checked 1 November 2026).
The guide ties the shorter form to the length of the award, not to the claimant’s age; we found no passage in it that moves an over-66 claimant to a ten-year cycle because of age. Where the reviewer’s questions turn on a stable condition, the Attendance Allowance wording checker tests a sentence against what a decision maker reads for, and our appointee at PIP assessments page covers who attends where someone else manages the claim.
Nothing having changed does not make the review optional. The regulations require requested information to be provided within one month, or a longer period the DWP considers reasonable, and where someone fails without good reason to comply, a negative determination must be made for that component (PIP Regulations 2013, regulation 8, checked 1 November 2026). GOV.UK describes the process: fill in the form using the notes that come with it, send any supporting information not shared before, and return it within one month, contacting the PIP enquiry line if more time is needed; PIP continues while the claim is reviewed (GOV.UK, Personal Independence Payment (PIP): if your PIP claim is reviewed, checked 1 November 2026). A form describing a stable condition is likely to be clearest where it gives the same concrete detail about daily life as the original claim did, rather than only the words no change.
PIP or Attendance Allowance: the rates
The daily living part of PIP and Attendance Allowance pay the same two amounts, and the difference between the benefits is the mobility part, which Attendance Allowance does not have. GOV.UK’s rates for 2026/27 put the two side by side (GOV.UK, Personal Independence Payment (PIP): how much you’ll get, checked 13 September 2026; GOV.UK, Attendance Allowance: what you'll get, checked 13 September 2026).
| Weekly rate | PIP daily living | PIP mobility | Attendance Allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard rate (PIP), lower rate (Attendance Allowance) | £76.70 | £30.30 | £76.70 |
| Enhanced rate (PIP), higher rate (Attendance Allowance) | £114.60 | £80.00 | £114.60 |
GOV.UK says Attendance Allowance does not cover mobility needs (GOV.UK, Attendance Allowance, checked 1 November 2026). A claimant on both parts of PIP who moves to Attendance Allowance keeps the daily living money and loses up to £80 a week, which is why an award in payment at pension age is worth keeping in payment.
Still on DLA
GOV.UK says that if you were born on or before 8 April 1948 you will continue to get DLA as long as you are eligible for it. If you were born after 8 April 1948 your DLA will end, with a letter saying when (GOV.UK, If you already get DLA, checked 1 November 2026).
The same page says you may be asked to claim PIP after reporting a change of circumstances. For a DLA claimant over pension age, the move is to PIP where the invitation comes, and the mobility rule above then applies to the new award. Our Attendance Allowance hub covers the pension-age claimant who has neither.
Scotland
Social Security Scotland pays the equivalents. Adult Disability Payment replaces PIP, with a daily living part at £76.70 or £114.60 and a mobility part at £30.30 or £80 (mygov.scot, https: //www.mygov.scot/adult-disability-payment, checked 1 November 2026). Pension Age Disability Payment replaces Attendance Allowance at £76.70 or £114.60 and is not means-tested (mygov.scot, Pension Age Disability Payment, checked 1 November 2026).
GOV.UK counts a recent Adult Disability Payment award the same as PIP for its 12-month exception. Our Scotland page covers the transfer of Attendance Allowance claimants.
If the decision is wrong
Two pages cover the challenge. PIP scored too low sets out the points, the reliability test and the 50% rule that a reconsideration turns on, with the DWP’s own clearance times. The PIP tribunal covers the hearing, who is on the panel, how long it takes and how often claimants win.
Where someone else manages the claim, our appointee hub covers the DWP’s arrangement, and the PIP assessments page who must attend.