Special diet as therapy: changes to PIP law from 28 November 2016
Updated 4 April 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-changes/special-diet-as-therapy-changes-to-pip-law-from-28-november-2016
Background
When applying for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) considers your ability to manage therapy and monitor a health condition.
Change to PIP law
From 28 November 2016 there was a change in how we consider the extra help you need to follow a special diet. This help can now be considered as therapy. A special diet is one which has been prescribed or recommended by a health professional.
DWP will now consider in certain circumstances the supervision, prompting or assistance you needed with the timing and type of food and drink intake to avoid an immediate deterioration in your medical condition.
What this means for you
We are looking at PIP claims which we think are most likely to be affected by this change and be eligible for more support. This includes looking again at some claims we decided on or after 28 November 2016 where we did not award PIP.
We will not look again at claims if the enhanced rate of the daily living part of PIP has been awarded:
- continuously since 28 November 2016
- from the start of your claim if you claimed PIP after 28 November 2016
If we decide that you should get more PIP then your award will usually be backdated to 28 November 2016, or if you claimed PIP after 28 November 2016, backdated to the date you started getting PIP.
We are not planning to invite you to a face-to-face assessment as part of this review.
The change to how special diet could be considered therapy is a result of an Upper Tribunal judgment.
This judgment also changed PIP law for managing medication and monitoring a health condition for a short time from 28 November 2016 to 15 March 2017.
You can apply for PIP again if you think you may now be eligible. The change to PIP law will apply to all new claims.
The change to PIP law has also been applied to all PIP Reviews since 17 June 2019.
Help with PIP
You can contact a local support organisation or Citizens Advice to get help understanding PIP.