pip extension out of the blue

fudgel

I was awarded PIP in 2023 for 3 years, I completed a paper review a few months ago and PIP was awarded again for another 3 years until 2029…I got the same letter out of the blue yesterday, that it was being extended for a further 3 years until 2032.

I will not quite have reached SPA by the end of the new extended period.

Blancmang25

I did a change of circumstances in February 2026, they did my review(was due) at the same time and awarded until March 2030. Letter received today: We have changed how often we review some PIP awards. This means we have extended your PIP award.

Current PIP award has been extended to March 2032.

This extended award takes me to just before my SPA.

Letter also says: We may extend the end date of your PIP award again.

Spoonie_Turtle

I was already happy for everyone else who's had an extension so far but really thought mine wouldn't be one of them. On a whim I logged into the system that allows you to request proof of benefits, and mine has also been extended - from 2028 to 2031!! I could cry from relief, I'm absolutely thrilled!

I was dreading the review forms next year because my health is in flux at the moment yet nowhere near being better enough to only qualify for standard rate - it's still worse than when I was first awarded enhanced rate - and each PIP process has made me decline so far which I did not want to have to face again so soon. 3 year award extended to 6 years, I'm ecstatic!

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072143#Comment_82072143

Have you got a link to proof of benefits please?

Pleased for you & all that have got the same.

poppy12345

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072203#Comment_82072203

https://www.gov.uk/proof-benefits-state-pension

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072143#Comment_82072143

So pleased for you, that's excellent news.

Starbright2

@Robbie64 Mine was awarded 2021 until 2027 review after 17th March 2026.

I said my PIP should be being reviewed now & I haven't had anything She looked & said no there's nothing here, let me have a look and see if there are any letters that have been recently sent. No nothing sent out yet, she said they have until march next year.

I asked if mine would be extended. She said um and looked at something on her screens and said no she said mine won't be extended.

So it's either condition/s that I have been awarded PIP for or the area is not backed up as much as other areas.

My gut feeling is it's being done by conditions, mine are fluctuating illnesses which probably mean I'm always going to need to be assessed in the eyes of the DWP. But as I say that's only a guess.

Robbie64

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072983#Comment_82072983

It seems like it might be related to the length of the last award. While not everyone fits the pattern, between posts here and elsewhere, it seems like extensions are being given to claimants with awards of less than 6 years, to bring the award up to 6 years. I've not noticed anyone with an existing 6 year award getting an extension.

If you haven't been given an extension then I'd expect your review form to be sent out around 6 or so months before the expiry date of your award. For yourself that would make it September. It's supposed to be sent out a year before the award expiry date but, again, backlogs have pushed this back by a few months for many people.

Spoonie_Turtle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072983#Comment_82072983

Mine is a condition that can fluctuate and is very much a spectrum, has no tests available outside of research studies (and is still not necessarily taken seriously even when people are hospitalised - health professionals still often believe it's a choice and we just that we think we're ill rather than what it actually is, the body shutting down) which is why I held out zero hope of mine being extended!

However basing it on award length administratively makes more sense, far quicker and simpler to just tick through and decide on a quantitive basis rather than trying to evaluate individual claims.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073187#Comment_82073187

DWP will almost certainly have a process and some easy to follow guidance. For a measure like this to be effective, it is most likely a system where a computer can screen for and identify cases based on a set of defined criteria (such as @Robbie64's 6 year hypothesis), and automatically generate letters given the volume of cases involved. Given the number of people that are currently reporting an extension, a whole bunch of letters seem to have been sent out in a short period of time which fits the pattern of an automated process rather than decision makers making a decision to extend based upon the health condition(s).

In the time it would take for agents to assess claims based on health condition to decide whether they could extend, they may as well have reassessed the claim.