The case transfer process from Personal Independence Payment to Adult Disability Payment

Individuals cannot ask for their benefits to be transferred. Personal Independence Payment cases are selected for transfer when the client has a Scottish postcode as part of their Personal Independence Payment record and:

• The client reports a relevant change of circumstances to Department for Work and Pensions that would require a face to face assessment after Adult Disability Payment national launch;
• The client’s fixed term award whose end of award date falls after Adult Disability Payment national launch where the client has not already begun the process of making an advance claim for Personal Independence Payment;
• The client’s scheduled review with Department for Work and Pensions is due to begin after the Adult Disability Payment national launch where the process for reviewing the case has not already begun, ie they have not yet received the review form from the Department for Work and Pensions.

This is called “natural transfer”, because a specific circumstance triggers the case’s selection for transfer.

Cases that are not subject to natural transfer (i.e. where one of the above circumstances does not occur) will eventually be selected for transfer based on a set of prioritisation criteria still to be agreed. This is called “managed transfer”.

Individuals do not need to make a new application for Adult Disability Payment for the transfer to take place. Instead, the Department for Work and Pensions passes the information used to make the Personal Independence Payment award to Social Security Scotland. This information forms the basis for the individual’s Adult Disability Payment determination.

Once Social Security Scotland receives the transfer information from Department for Work and Pensions, they will send a notification to the individual explaining all of the following (Adult Disability Payments regs, Sch 2, Para 8(2))

• that their case has been selected for transfer from PIP to ADP
• a determination to begin entitlement of ADP and end PIP will be made within the period of specified time within the communication
• a determination will be made without the individual submitting an application
• the individual will be notified when the determination is made and information about their award and start date of ADP
• the individual’s PIP award will cease immediately before the award of ADP begins so there is no break in entitlement
• what their rights are to request a re-determination or appeal (Section 40 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018)