PIP and Heart operation

netcoaching wrote: Can someone please help as I recently helped a lady get a 3 year award for PIP middle care and lower mobility for a heart operation due soon. will this award end as soon as DWP think she has recovered, or will they honour the 3 year award?
Thank you.

It's not really either of these!

It's incumbent on the claimant to notify the DWP of any Change of Circumstances but this does not mean that their existing claim simply stops, the DWP need to re-assess them to see whether they still meet the criteria.

Where an operation is involved and in particular one as serious as a heart one, then the expected benefits must be looked at over a reasonable period of time, PIP looks backwards 3 months and forwards 9 months so the claimant needs to see whether there has been an improvement and whether it is sustainable before deciding to notify the DWP?

As a general comment, because PIP is points based, and improvement does not necessarily mean that there will be a corresponding reduction in their award, for ;someone who initially received 11 points for Standard Daily Living may after a change, lose 3 points but would still qualify for the same award as they stills score 8 points.

Gordon