Benefits and debt advice

Adult Disability Payment and Personal Independence Payment

Adult Disability Payment (ADP)

ADP is a new benefit for Scotland that replaces Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  It is aimed at supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to help with the costs of their condition.

Find out more information about ADP on mygov.scot.

Make a ADP claim on the Social Security Scotland website or call 0800 182 2222.

If you ask to challenge a decision to reduce or stop Adult Disability Payment

You can apply for Short-Term Assistance a temporary payment

 Short-term-assistance

Personal independence Payment (PIP)

It is no longer possible to make new PIP claims in Scotland.

If you are already in receipt of PIP then your claim will be transferred to ADP within the next 2 years.

Made a new claim but no decision yet

Once the PIP claim form has been returned to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) a health assessment will be carried out. It is possible that a telephone assessment will be done rather than a face to face assessment. If an assessment has been scheduled, claimants will be contacted by the assessment provider to discuss how this will be taken forward.

If no assessment has been scheduled yet then the DWP will be in touch to discuss the way forward.

If an assessment has already taken place this will continue to be processed.

New or existing claims which have been refused or terminated

If a claim has been refused or terminated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) then you can challenge the decision by requesting a mandatory reconsideration (MR).  This must be completed within one month of the date of the decision.. It can be extended to up to 13 months from the date of decision if good cause is provided for the MR being late. 

A mandatory reconsideration can be done by post or via telephone. Obtaining medical evidence to support your mandatory reconsideration can be beneficial though during the Covid-19 crisis it may not be possible to get a healthcare professional to provide such evidence. 

If your MR is refused you can then appeal to an independent tribunal.

Existing claimant whose award is to be reviewed

In normal circumstances, DWP will require a person in receipt of PIP to complete a review form and possibly attend a face to face assessment.

A PIP Review will lead to a transfer to ADP.

Existing Claimant whose circumstances have changed

If a condition has worsened and the claimant thinks they are eligible for a higher rate of PIP then they should inform DWP of this by contacting them by telephone.  This will initiate a review process which is likely to lead to a transfer to ADP. 

Be aware that asking for a review can mean that an award can go down as well as remain the same or go up. 

Before contacting the DWP to discuss a change in circumstances it’s important to get advice. 

Find out more information on PIP on GOV.UK

You can find out  about on PIP and PIP descriptors on the PIP info website.