The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefit system is set to be significantly overhauled for 2025. The benefit assists those with long-term health conditions or illnesses, with varying rates depending on individual needs.

There are six key changes to be aware of for the upcoming year, as reported by the Express. The first of these is that New Year payment dates have been adjusted due to the festive season and New Year bank holiday.

Payments that were due yesterday, Tuesday, December 31, should have been paid as normal - since New Year's Eve is not a bank holiday. But if your payment was due today - Wednesday, January 1 - you should have received it a day earlier.

There are six key changes to be aware of for the upcoming year (
Image:
Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire)

This applies to those who received their last payment on December 4, as payments are made every four weeks. Payment dates will return to normal from Thursday, January 2, except in Scotland where any payments due on January 2 will instead be paid on December 31.

Another change coming in is that the Motability £750 payment will be discontinued from Friday, January 3. As explained on the Motability website: "If you're thinking of joining the Scheme, you'll need to order by 3 January 2025 to get this."

This payment was introduced to help people cope with the increased costs of purchasing a new car due to global shortages. Another part of the scheme being scrapped from January 3 is the £100 New Product Payment for scooters and powered wheelchairs.

You can get a Motability vehicle if you are on the higher rate of the mobility element of PIP, as well as on Disability Living Allowance and the Adult Disability Payment. Veterans on the Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement will also qualify.

As well as this, the Government has set out its Get Britain Working white paper with plans to "overhaul the health and disability benefits system so it better supports people to enter and remain in work". Measures proposed include a new job and careers service to help people on benefits get back into work. You can read more about the plans here.

The DWP says there will be a consultation on the plans in spring 2025. The previous Conservative Government put forward a green paper in April with plans to reform PIP including replacing cash payments with a voucher scheme. The Labour Government previously said it has no plans to bring in such a change.

And from April 2025, benefit payment rates will rise by 1.7 per cent, affecting all payment elements of most DWP benefits, including PIP and DLA. This means the PIP weekly rates will increase; the daily living element lower rate will go from £72.65 to £73.90, and the higher rate from £108.55 to £110.40.

The mobility component will rise from £28.70 to £29.20 for the lower rate and from £75.75 to £77.05 for the higher rate. If you receive the higher rate for both parts, your four-week payments will increase from £737.20 to £749.80.

There'll also be a PIP spending study, with the DWP looking at what people need their payments for. This comes after questions about the adequacy of PIP to cover extra costs for disabled people.

Sir Stephen Timms, DWP Minister for Social Security and Disability, said: "There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.

"DWP pays close attention to estimates of the extra costs faced by disabled people, including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP's own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019.

"In order to improve the evidence in this area, DWP is now undertaking a new survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability-related needs." The researchers are expected to publish their findings over Summer 2025.

The Government is also providing a £3.5million funding boost across 17 NHS areas, to help improve the treatment of people with musculoskeletal conditions, that are preventing them from getting back to work. Some 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long-term ill health, with muscle and joint pains the second biggest reason after mental health issues.

PIP is not means tested so you will qualify regardless of whether or not you are in work, but more than 1.1 million people on the benefit get the support as they are affected by musculoskeletal conditions. Many of these individuals will also be receiving Universal Credit's sickness payment if they are also deemed to be unfit for work.