The Short Answer
A PIP review starts with a form to return within one month, and payments continue at the existing rate throughout. GOV.UK sets out five steps, from the letter through to the decision. The review is a fresh look at entitlement, so an award can be increased, reduced or stopped. What decides the outcome is the same thing that decided the original award: the descriptors, and the evidence for them.
What a Review Is
A scheduled reassessment of an existing award, set when the award was made. GOV.UK states that "the letter you got when your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was approved will tell you when your claim will end and if it will be reviewed".
Award length is set by whether needs are likely to change rather than by condition. GOV.UK puts the range at "between 9 months and 10 years" for a first award, and the full picture is on the PIP Award Lengths page.
The Five Steps
GOV.UK sets out the sequence, and it is short.
- You get a letter asking you to fill in a form called 'Personal Independence Payment Review'.
- You fill in the form using the notes that come with it.
- You send the form and any supporting information not shared with the DWP before, within 1 month.
- The DWP reviews the form. Where more information is needed, an independent health professional might phone you or invite you to an assessment, in person, over the phone or by video call.
- You get a letter telling you what will happen with your PIP.
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Not every review reaches step 4. Where the form and the existing evidence are enough, a decision follows without any further contact.
Payments Continue Throughout
GOV.UK states it plainly: "You will continue to get PIP while your claim is being reviewed." The existing rate keeps being paid on the existing cycle until a new decision is made.
That removes the most common worry about reviews, and it also removes the urgency people sometimes attach to them. A review taking months costs nothing while it runs.
What a Review Can Change
Three outcomes, and all of them are live. GOV.UK states that "if your needs have changed, your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped".
| Outcome | What follows |
|---|---|
| Increased | Arrears from the date the increased entitlement arose, then the higher rate |
| Unchanged | The award continues, with a new end or review date |
| Reduced | The lower rate from the date the decision takes effect |
| Stopped | Payments end from the date the decision takes effect |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Any of those can be challenged. A review decision carries the same one-month deadline for a mandatory reconsideration as any other PIP decision.
How to Complete the Form
As a fresh account, not as a comparison with last time. The form asks how your condition affects the assessed activities now, and the decision maker is applying the same descriptors to that account.
Three habits matter more than length:
- Describe the ordinary day. The majority-of-days rule applies at review exactly as it does on a new claim.
- Include what has got harder. A review that only confirms the previous position understates a deterioration, and increases at review are backdated to when the change arose.
- Send new evidence. Anything acquired since the last decision — clinic letters, a new prescription, an occupational therapy assessment, a support plan.
What each section asks and how to answer it is covered on the The PIP Review Form (AR1) page.
Reporting Changes Between Reviews
Some changes must be reported straight away, and do not wait for a review. GOV.UK lists them, and the list includes needing more or less help, a change in how long the condition is expected to last, going into hospital or a care home, and going abroad for more than 4 weeks.
Reporting an increase in needs can lead to a higher award backdated to the date of the change. The full list, and what each change does to an award, is on the PIP Change of Circumstances page.
Keeping Up With Changes to the Rules
Reviews are the part of PIP most affected by policy change, and the current position is set out on the PIP News and Changes page.
Where a review increases an award, the difference for the period since the change arose is paid as arrears. How pip back pay works covers how that is priced.
Reaching State Pension age does not end an award or trigger a review, and reviews continue on the normal cycle after it. What does change is the ability to make a new claim, which is set out on PIP at State Pension Age.
Related guidance: Light-Touch PIP Reviews, PIP Stopped or Suspended, PIP Renewals.