Sources and methodology
Every figure on PIP Check comes from a government publication, and the page it sits on links to it. This page explains how the figures get from those publications to the site, and how they're kept accurate.
The statistics
DWP: Personal Independence Payment statistics
Published every quarter for England and Wales. The current release is Personal Independence Payment statistics to July 2026, published 15 September 2026; the next is due 15 December 2026. The site reads its spreadsheet for waiting times by month, initial decisions and awards by quarter, what happened at mandatory reconsideration and appeal, and the split between new claims and reassessments.
Ministry of Justice: Tribunals Statistics Quarterly
The current release is Tribunals statistics quarterly: April to June 2026, published 10 September 2026. The site reads the Personal Independence Payment column of its Social Security and Child Support tables for appeals received, cleared and decided at tribunal.
How the files are read
A script finds the newest release through the gov.uk content API, downloads the spreadsheet and reads it. It finds each table by the words in its title and column headings, never by its position, because the departments rearrange their files between releases. If a table, column or row can't be matched exactly once, the script stops and nothing on the site changes, so a figure can't end up under the wrong label.
Automated tests run the reader against real releases kept on file, with the expected numbers checked by hand against the spreadsheets. Other tests check the published data for gaps between months or quarters and for counts that don't add up.
How the figures are worked out
- Waiting times are DWP's medians as published. New claims, reassessments and the special rules are always shown separately.
- Award rates and appeal rates are worked out from DWP's and the Ministry of Justice's counts. Where DWP publishes a rounded percentage instead, the site shows it rounded.
- DWP follows decisions through mandatory reconsideration and appeal, so its recent years fill in over time. A year is only quoted once at least 95% of its reconsiderations or appeals have an outcome.
- DWP and Ministry of Justice figures count different things, so they're shown separately.
- Words that describe a change, such as “down from” or “most of”, are worked out from the numbers each time the site is built.
Rules and rates
Rules the site states, such as deadlines and how descriptors are chosen, are taken from gov.uk or the legislation itself. Each one is held in a single place with its source and the date someone last read the source and confirmed it, and that date is shown on the page.
The points calculator uses the descriptors and points from Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013, copied word for word and checked on 11 October 2026. The rates are from DWP: Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027, checked on 11 October 2026. The 2026/27 rates are flagged for review by 15 March 2027, and the site's tests fail after that date until the next year's rates are added.
What it doesn't cover
- Scotland. In Scotland, new claims go to Adult Disability Payment from Social Security Scotland.
- Award rates by condition, which DWP publishes through Stat-Xplore rather than its quarterly tables.
- Anything about an individual claim. The calculators show how the rules work; DWP decides each claim.
Who runs the site is on the about page.
We are not the DWP and can't see your claim. For help with your own claim, Citizens Advice and Scope give free advice.