Almost three million people in the UK were claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by the end of April, according to latest figures.
The highest level of award was received by just over a third (35 percent) of claimants, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said.
The data also showed that a total of 384,832 people are receiving support through PIP for 70 different neurological conditions.
A breakdown by country shows:
-
England: 317,583 claimants
- Scotland: 41,263 claimants
- Wales: 25,984 claimants
PIP is slowly replacing the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for most adults and is usually paid every four weeks into a person's bank or building society account.
Support money is paid to anyone who not only has a long-term physical or mental condition or disability but it also impacts two aspects of their lives: daily living and mobility.
The DWP assesses how difficult it is for a person to carry out everyday tasks such as eating, drinking, washing and being able to dress and undress.
While the mobility part considers how much help someone needs physically moving around or leaving the house.
The amount of money a person is eligible for depends on the level of support they need based on the criteria.
This means PIP is based on how your condition affects your life - it isn't awarded based solely on the condition you have or the medication you take.
The lower and higher weekly rates for daily living are £61.85 and £92.40 respectively while the lower and higher weekly rates for mobility are £24.45 and £64.50 respectively.
PIP is not affected by income or savings, it is not taxable and you can get it whether you are in work or not.
Main physical or mental conditions that have qualified for PIP can include the diagnosis of anxiety, depression and stress as well as musculoskeletal and neurological diseases.
In order to claim PIP, you will be assessed by a health professional to work out the level of help you can receive. To be eligible for PIP, you must have a health condition or disability where you:
- Have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for three months
- Expect these difficulties to continue for at least nine months
Below is a list of the 70 neurological conditions that have been supported by PIP.
Cerebrovascular disease
- Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
- Cerebrovascular disease - Other / type not known
- Transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs)
Epilepsy
- Cataplexy
- Generalised seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Generalised seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Narcolepsy
- Partial seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Partial seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months)
- Seizures - unclassified
Non epileptic disturbance of consciousness
- Disturbances of consciousness - Non-epileptic - Other / type not known
- Drop attacks
- Non epileptic Attack disorder (pseudoseizures)
- Stokes Adams attacks (cardiovascular syncope)
- Syncope - Other / type not known
Movement disorders
- Blepharospasm
- Essential tremor - benign
- Huntington's disease
- Movement disorders - Other / type not known
- Parkinson's disease
- Parkinson's syndrome / Parkinsonism
- Torticollis
- Tourette's syndrome
- Writer's cramp
Multiple sclerosis
Benign tumours
- Neurofibromatosis
- Tumours - benign - Other / type not known
Hydrocephalus
Headache
- Dizziness - cause not specified
- Headache - Other causes of / cause not known
- Migraine
Head injury
- Head injury - Cognitive and sensorimotor impairment
- Head injury - Cognitive impairment
- Head injury - Sensorimotor impairment
Spinal cord compression
- Paraplegia (traumatic)
- Spinal cord compression - Other causes of / cause not known
- Syringomyelia / Syringobulbia
- Tetraplegia (traumatic)
Degenerative neuronal diseases
- Degenerative neuronal diseases - Other / type not known
- Motor neurone disease
Cerebral palsy
- Cerebral palsy - Ataxic
- Cerebral palsy - Athetoid
- Cerebral palsy - Diplegic
- Cerebral palsy - Hemiplegic
- Cerebral palsy - Other / type not known
- Cerebral palsy - Quadriplegic
Spina bifida
Ataxia
- Ataxia - Friedrich's
- Ataxias - Other / type not known
Neuropathy
- Charcot Marie Tooth disease
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Guillain Barre syndrome
- Neuropathies - Other / type not known including peripheral
Peripheral nerve injury
- Brachial plexus
- Peripheral nerve injury - Other / type not known
Disease of muscle
- Dermatomyositis
- Dystrophia myotonica
- Muscle - Other diseases of / type not known
- Myasthenia gravis
- Polymyositis
Muscular dystrophy
- Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy
- Muscular dystrophy - Becker type
- Muscular dystrophy - Duchenne
- Muscular dystrophy - limb girdle
- Muscular dystrophy - Other / type not known
Infections
- Creutzfeldt - Jacob disease (CJD)
- Infections - Other
- Poliomyelitis and post polio syndrome
- Prion diseases - Other / type not known
Other neurological disorders
- Neurological disorders - Other / type not known
