PIP – 28 Day Rule

Why might it be of interest?

When a person (young or otherwise) goes to residential college; into residential care; or into hospital their underlying eligibility for PIP doesn’t change but they may not be entitled to an actual payment of PIP while they are away from home.  They remain eligible for payment when they are at home.

There is a 28 day rule that the DWP should be aware of but people do sometimes experience problems when claiming for home days.  And call handlers may also refer to the person being in hospital – as may letters.  This is confusing but it arises because the same rule applies whether a person is in residential care or hospital.

For reference, if a young person is at residential college the care side of their package is registered residential care so the same PIP rules apply as if they were in hospital or residential care.

The 28 day rule

This applies to all residential settings – including colleges and hospitals.

It’s important to understand that the young person has not lost their entitlement to PIP – so you’re not looking at a new application to restart payments.

This affects the daily living component regardless of the residential placement.  However, mobility allowance continues for young people in residential college or residential care – but it stops after 28 in hospital.

I’m going to write the rest of this from the angle of a young person being in a residential college as that’s the most likely situation for our young people.  But the principles are the same across hospital stays and residential care.  And I’m going to use examples as I think this rule is more easily explained with actual examples.

If your young person goes to a residential college in September they will be entitled to receive their PIP payments for the next 28 days.  After 28 days at college they will no longer be entitled to PIP payments for the days they are at college.  They are still entitled to PIP payments for days they are at home.

These can be 28 consecutive days or a few days a week linked with a few days in subsequent weeks until the total reaches 28 days.

If they are at home for 29 consecutive days or more at any point then when they return to college they will be entitled to PIP payments for the next 28 days again as a break of 29 days between stays at residential college resets the count or breaks the link.  I am using that term as if you google this rule you are likely to see those words.

Here’s an example from when my daughter went to a residential college:

We take Sophie to college on 2 September

• She is entitled to PIP payments until 29 September
• From 30 September her PIP payments will stop
• I can retrospectively claim PIP payments for days she is at home

She comes home for:

• Half term – 10 days
• Christmas holidays – 21 days
• February half term – 10 days
• Easter Holidays 15 days
• May half term – 10 days
• Summer holiday 42 days

I can claim after each holiday or in batches.  I tended to do half term and Christmas together, then the next half term and Easter together, etc.

Days that either start or finish at home are counted as home days.  So, if I pick her up on a Friday afternoon from college and return her a week on Sunday that’s 10 days.

When she returns to college at the beginning of September she is again entitled to PIP payments for the first 28 days at college as the summer holiday is longer than 29 days so it resets the count (or breaks the link).

We had one Christmas during covid where I picked her up a little early and her covid test didn’t come back on time (had to have a clear one to go back to college) and she was home for 29 days so the count reset at that point and for the next 28 days – all of January and slightly into February – she was entitled to PIP payments.

What if your young person comes home every or frequent weekends?

This is a not uncommon scenario.  But the same 28 day rule applies – it’s just that because the 28 days are not consecutive and don’t include all the weekends they will be getting PIP payments for slightly longer.  Each stay at college is added to (or linked with) the next stay at college until it reaches 28 days and then further days the young person is at college do not entitle them to PIP payments.  But you can then retrospectively claim for the weekends at home.

This is because their stays at home do not exceed 29 days which is the time needed to reset the count.  Basically, the number of days the young person is at college are added together until they reach the 28 day limit and at that point PIP payments stop and you have to retrospectively claim for home days.

Example:

Jack goes to college on Monday morning

He returns to the family home most Fridays for the weekend

• Monday is a home day, as is Friday – and Saturday and Sunday
• That means that 3 days of the week – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – are residential college days

He continues to get PIP payments for his college days until the total of the college days each week added together reach 28

• At that point he continues to be eligible for PIP payments for home days but not college days
• Until he is at home for a period of 29 or more days – then the count starts again

If Jack stays at college for the occasional weekend or he returns on a Sunday rather than a Monday or goes home on a Saturday rather than a Friday then he will reach the 28 day limit sooner.  Let’s make this very clear:

Week 1:  Jack is at college Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – 3 days

Week 2:  Jack is at college Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – 3 days, running total 6 days

Week 3:  Jack goes to college on Monday but stays for the weekend so his college days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Sunday – 6 days, running total 12 days

Week 4:  Jack didn’t go home at the weekend so Monday is also a college day this week as well as Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday but he is going home on Friday – 4 days, running total 16 days

And so on

Supported Living

Just to be very clear this rule applies to residential college.  If a young person is living in supported living at their college – Orpheus is an example of this arrangement – then they continue to be eligible for PIP payments.

Claiming for home days

I had two options:

• Fill in a form and send it to the DWP
• Phone after each holiday (or 2 or 3 together)

I started by filling in the form and sending it to the DWP but I always had to follow up with a phone call as the payments never arrived.  So I switched to making a phone call and most times the payments were made without me having to phone again – but not always.  If is a bit of a faff which is why I tended to claim after 2 or 3 holidays but the frequency is up to you.

When your young person finishes residential college

You will have to call the DWP and let them know that your young person is now living at home again and has completed residential college.  You may need to provide evidence of this although I can’t recall having to do this.  It may be some kind of report or letter from the college to confirm that the young person has finished at the college.

If they are moving into supported living you may be asked to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement.  This would be for the DWP to establish that their living arrangement is supported living and not residential care.

You might find this leaflet from Contact helpful in understanding this rule:

https://contact.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Benefits-if-your-child-is-in-residential-accommodation.pdf

Care is NHS funded

Please do read this leaflet if your young person’s residential college placement – the care side – is funded by the NHS as hospital rules may apply from the start.  These rules are complex and who is providing the care in the residential setting will determine whether the usual residential care rules apply or the hospital rule apply.

Carer’s Allowance

I am not going into detail about this but if your young person is at residential college your entitlement to Carer’s Allowance may be affected.  To be entitled to receive Carer’s Allowance you need to be caring for 35 hours or more a week – and your young person has to be in receipt of PIP daily living component.  If your young person is coming home every weekend you may still be entitled to receive Carer’s Allowance but if they are at college for a few weeks at a time and not receiving PIP then your claim is likely to be affected.