Research and analysis

PIP administrative exercise: completion report, at 30 October 2025

Published 15 September 2026

Policy background and introduction 

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced in April 2013 and replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for claimants of working age. Eligibility for PIP is based on the functional needs of a claimant arising from a disability or long-term health condition. 

This publication is concerned with an administrative exercise to address issues relating to claimants without a National Insurance number (NINo) who wished to make a claim to PIP.  

Claimants do not need a NINo to claim PIP, but it cannot be paid without one. In these cases, the application for a NINo and a PIP application should proceed at the same time. In 2021, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was informed by stakeholders that some claimants without a NINo had been incorrectly advised that they could not make a claim to PIP without a NINo, or had been awarded PIP from the wrong date.  

The Department has a duty to restore legal entitlements. Where the Department becomes aware that these have been denied, an administrative exercise is required. This report relates to reviews on cases we were able to identify from DWP records. 

Administrative exercise 

Between 12 September 2023 and 30 October 2025, the Department carried out an administrative exercise to review cases affected by this issue. This was to ensure where there was an entitlement to PIP, it was also paid from the correct date. 

Purpose of publication 

This report presents DWP management information at 30 October 2025, on cases identified (using departmental records) as requiring a review. It includes: 

• the number of cases reviewed

• the number of payments made to qualifying claimants  

• the total amount of backdated PIP paid to qualifying claimants

• the number of cases with a mandatory reconsideration (MR) cleared 

Cases reviewed 

DWP management information (MI) at 30 October 2025 shows: 

• around 510 cases have been reviewed

• around 310 arrears payments have been made following a review

• around £660,000 in arrears payments have been paid following a review

Mandatory Reconsiderations 

Claimants who wish to dispute a decision on the review of their PIP claim can ask DWP to reconsider the decision. This is called a mandatory reconsideration (MR) and must be completed before an appeal is made and lodged with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).  

DWP management information has identified that, as of 30 October 2025, fewer than 10 cases had an MR cleared.

Tribunal decisions 

There were no cases with a tribunal decision affected by this exercise.  

Notes about the data  

Source: The data used is management information from the PIP administrative exercise at 30 October 2025. A case is defined as a unique individual within a given group. 

Rounding 

All figures have been rounded as shown in the table. Some numbers may not sum due to rounding. 

Range	Rounded to the nearest
0 – 1,000	10
1,001 – 10,000	100
10,001 – 100,000	1,000
100,001 – 1,000,000	10,000
1,000,001 – 10,000,000	100,000
10,000,001 – 100,000,000	1,000,000

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics 

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars: 

• trustworthiness 

• quality 

• value 

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way. 

Trustworthiness

Is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics.

Progress on the PIP administration exercise is based on DWP management information supplied through a data capture tool. It was built to allow consistent and efficient recording of case review progress in the PIP administration exercise. 

Quality

Is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics.

The data presented on progress is taken from the data capture tool developed to accurately record progress and levels of arrears payments. Drop-down menus and validation checks assist in reliable data recording. Data recording checks are carried out by operational staff.  

Figures are derived from manually collated administrative data and are provided as management information and not official statistics.  

Value

Is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information.

This release provides a progress update on the PIP administrative exercise, together with context for those figures.  

In addition, it aims to reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information requests and ad hoc queries to ensure timely responses to public queries. 

To support financial planning and management of departmental business, figures have been seen in advance by ministers and officials. This is in line with the Code, where pre-release access does not apply for releases based on routine management information – as covered in the National Statistician’s guidance.

Future releases 

There will be no future releases; this administrative exercise is complete.  

Where to find out more 

For more information on PIP please see: 

• Personal Independence Payment statistics 

• DWP benefit expenditure and caseload tables  

Contact information 

The Department has contacted all those it has identified as potentially impacted and the cases available have been reviewed. Although we have completed the exercise, claimants can still ask the Department to conduct a review of their case, if they think they are affected.   

For press enquiries, contact DWP Press Office on 0203 267 5144.