PIP back pay calculator
PIP back pay is what you're owed from the day your award starts to the day your regular payments begin. A new award can't start before the date of your claim, which for a phone claim is normally the day of the call. Enter the dates from your decision letter and this works out the amount, a seventh of the weekly rate for each day.
Sources: Claims and Payments Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/380), regulations 12 and 27; Claims and Payments Regulations 2013, regulations 48 and 49. Checked 11 October 2026.
DWP works out your back pay and the start date, and your letter is what counts. This shows how the sum is made up. If DWP's figure is different, check the dates and rates you entered against the letter.
Work out your back pay
PIP is paid every 4 weeks in arrears, so a regular payment covers the 4 weeks before it. If your letter gives the date of your first regular payment, the first day it covers is 4 weeks earlier.
Enter both dates from your decision letter.
Covers 7 April 2025 to 15 March 2027: the days this site holds confirmed PIP rates for.
A worked example
Someone claims by phone on 2 March 2026 and is awarded the standard rate of daily living. The first day their regular payments cover is 6 July 2026. Their back pay covers 126 days, across the April rate change:
- 2 March 2026 to 5 April 2026: 35 days at £73.90 a week (2025/26 rate) = £369.50
- 6 April 2026 to 5 July 2026: 91 days at £76.70 a week (2026/27 rate) = £997.10
That's £1,366.60 in total.
When a PIP award starts
A new PIP award can't start before the date of your claim. For a claim made by phone, that's normally the day of the call.
You need to have had the difficulties for 3 months, and expect them to last at least 9 more. If you claim before the 3 months are up, the award can start once they are.
Under the special rules for end of life, the 3-month and 9-month conditions don't apply.
Sources: Claims and Payments Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/380), regulations 12 and 27; PIP Regulations 2013, regulations 12 to 14; Claims and Payments Regulations 2013, regulation 33; Welfare Reform Act 2012, section 82. Checked 11 October 2026.
After a mandatory reconsideration or appeal
If a mandatory reconsideration changes the decision, the new decision usually takes effect from the date the original one did, so an increase is backdated to then. Tick the box in the calculator and enter the rates you had before, and it works out the difference you're owed.
For an appeal, the start date of a changed award depends on the tribunal's decision. Use the dates you're given for the new award. How often appeals change the decision is on the PIP appeal success rate.
Source: Social Security Act 1998, section 9(3). Checked 11 October 2026.
How it's paid
PIP is paid every 4 weeks in arrears. Part weeks are paid at a seventh of the weekly rate for each day.
DWP can pay PIP arrears in instalments only if it thinks that's needed to protect you, and only if you agree.
Source: Claims and Payments Regulations 2013, regulations 48 and 49. Checked 11 October 2026.
The rates used
| Rates | In force from | Daily living | Mobility |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 7 April 2025 | £73.90 / £110.40 | £29.20 / £77.05 |
| 2026/27 | 6 April 2026 | £76.70 / £114.60 | £30.30 / £80.00 |
Standard / enhanced. Sources: The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025, article 15; The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026, article 15. The full rates are on how much is PIP.
Questions people ask
Is PIP backdated?
Back to the start of your claim at the earliest. A new PIP award can't start before the date of your claim. For a claim made by phone, that's normally the day of the call. If you hadn't had the difficulties for 3 months by then, the award starts when you had. The back pay covers the weeks from that start date until your regular payments begin.
How is PIP back pay worked out?
For each day from the start of your award to the start of your regular payments, you're owed a seventh of the weekly rate in force that day. PIP rates change each April, so a period across April uses two different rates. The calculator here does that sum.
How far back does a mandatory reconsideration go?
If a mandatory reconsideration changes the decision, the new decision usually takes effect from the date the original one did, so an increase is backdated to then. So if your award goes up, you're owed the difference from that date, less what you were already paid.
Can PIP back pay be paid in instalments?
DWP can pay PIP arrears in instalments only if it thinks that's needed to protect you, and only if you agree. PIP is paid every 4 weeks in arrears. Part weeks are paid at a seventh of the weekly rate for each day.
Where this comes from
gov.uk doesn't set out how PIP back pay works, so the rules here are from the legislation itself, each linked where it's stated. The rates and the day each year's rates started are from that year's Up-rating Order. The calculator runs in your browser and doesn't store or send anything you enter.
We are not the DWP and can't see your claim. For help checking your back pay, Citizens Advice and Scope give free advice.