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Residence and presence

A person is not entitled to personal independence payment unless they meet prescribed conditions relating to residence and presence in Great Britain.

Legislation

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 provides that -

(3) A person is not entitled to personal independence payment unless the person meets prescribed conditions relating to residence and presence in Great Britain.

Source: section 77(3) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, and article 82(3) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (SI.No.2006/2015 (NI.1)) in Northern Ireland.

Regulations 16 of the main PIP Regulations sets out the prescribed conditions for the purposes of section 77(3) of the Act -

..... on any day for which [the claimant] claims personal independence payment [the claimant] -

(a) is present in Great Britain;
(b) has been present in Great Britain for a period of, or periods amounting in aggregate to, not less than 104 weeks out of the 156 weeks immediately preceding that day;
(c) is habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands; and
(d) is a person - (i) who is not subject to immigration control within the meaning of section 115(9) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; or (ii) to whom, by virtue of regulation 2 of the Social Security (Immigration and Asylum) Consequential Amendments Regulations 2000, section 115 of that Act does not apply for the purpose of personal independence payment.

Exceptions to the prescribed conditions set out in regulations 17 to 23A of the main PIP regulations relate to -

  • temporary absence from Great Britain (regulations 17);
  • absence to receive medical treatment (regulation 18);
  • absence in special cases, including HM forces personnel, mariners and aircraft workers (regulation 19);
  • further provisions in relation to HM forces and their family members (regulation 20);
  • terminal illness (regulation 21);
  • persons residing in Great Britain to whom a relevant EU Regulation applies (regulation 22);
  • persons residing in an EEA state or Switzerland to whom a relevant EU Regulation applies (regulation 23);
  • persons in receipt of an equivalent Scottish benefit who move from Scotland to England or Wales (regulation 23ZA); and
  • refugees and certain persons with leave to enter and/or remain in the United Kingdom (regulation 23A).

Sources: Part 4 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (SI.No.377/2013), and Part 4 of SR.No.217/2016 in Northern Ireland.

NB - in Scotland, adult disability payment is replacing personal independence payment and the residence and presence conditions are found in Part 5 of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022  (SSI.No.54/2022) - see also Residence and Presence for Adult Disability Payment.

Commentary

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