The Short Answer
DLA remains only for under-16s and people born on or before 8 April 1948; everyone else moves to PIP. The two use different criteria, so a transfer is a fresh assessment rather than a conversion, and it can raise, lower or end an award. The DWP starts the process — there is nothing to do until the invitation arrives.
Who Is on Which
The table below sets out the position, with each figure taken from the source named beneath it.
| Situation | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Under 16 | DLA for children |
| Born on or before 8 April 1948 | DLA continues |
| Born after 8 April 1948, working age | PIP, following an invitation |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
GOV.UK states it directly: "Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is being replaced by PIP for most adults. You'll keep getting DLA if: you're under 16, you were born on or before 8 April 1948."
Side by Side
The table below sets out the position, with each figure taken from the source named beneath it.
| PIP | DLA | |
|---|---|---|
| Components | Daily living, mobility | Care, mobility |
| Rates within each | Two | Three care, two mobility |
| The assessment | Twelve activities, descriptors, points | Care and mobility needs |
| Means-tested | No | No |
| Open to new adult claims | Yes | No |
The three-rate care component is the structural difference people feel most. DLA care pays £30.30, £76.70 or £114.60 a week in 2026/27, against PIP daily living's £76.70 or £114.60. The lowest DLA care rate has no PIP equivalent, which is one reason transfers can reduce an award even where nothing about the condition has changed.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
The Transfer Is a Fresh Assessment
Not a conversion. A DLA award gives no guaranteed PIP equivalent, because the two ask different questions.
The practical consequence is how the PIP2 form should be completed: as a new claim describing how the condition affects each of the twelve activities now, not as a renewal describing the DLA award. A form written the second way leaves activities unanswered, and unanswered activities score zero.
The scoring is what makes that costly. The activities and descriptors are set out in Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013, and 8 points in a component pays the standard rate while 12 pays the enhanced rate.
What Happens to Payments
DLA continues while the PIP claim is decided. There is no gap to bridge and no need to rush the form at the cost of describing the difficulties properly.
The DWP starts the process. GOV.UK states you "do not need to do anything until DWP writes to you about your DLA unless your circumstances change" — and that last clause is the one to watch, because a change of circumstances is still reportable and can bring the invitation forward.
Arrears Across the Change
Two separate entitlements, priced on their own rules. A PIP award following a transfer runs from the date PIP entitlement arose, not from the start of the DLA claim.
Matching weekly figures do not merge the two periods. DLA mobility higher rate and PIP enhanced mobility both pay £80.00 a week in 2026/27, and the arrears for each are still worked out from its own effective date.
Where arrears are owed on the DLA period, the DLA Back Pay Calculator prices them on the DLA rates. Where they are owed on the PIP period, the PIP rates apply.
In Scotland
The destination benefit in Scotland is Adult Disability Payment rather than PIP. The rates match, but the process does not: Social Security Scotland allows 42 calendar days to request a re-determination against the DWP's 1 month, and pays Short-term Assistance while a challenge is decided.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The equivalent transfer, and what differs about the process, is on DLA to PIP. The eligibility tests themselves are on how eligibility works.