DLA and mobility on return to the UK

Cl (70) and her son (48) moved to France 12 years ago. Both were in receipt of DLA care and mobility components, and continued to receive the care component whilst in France. They have now returned to the UK and are still in receipt of the care component. Can the 70 year old ask for the mobility component to be reinstated as she still has mobility needs?

I am assuming that if the son requests this, he will be assessed for PIP. I don’t have any more details at present and don’t have access to CPAG.

Thanks in advance.

I can’t find anything to say that the fact that client has been out of UK would take them out of the normal rules which are - as set out on p605 of current CPAG handbook - if you have an existing award made before you turned 65 (ie not a renewal, revision etc made after then) you can be awarded any rate of any component after you turn 65 as long as you can show you satisfied the conditions for the new component or rate before you were 65, as per para 1(3) of Schedule1 to the Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991.

As long as the award was changed to the care component when they moved abroad before the client turned 65 and hasn’t been revised or renewed since, and you’re confident about eligibility for the care component and so happy to have award looked at, it may be worth asking the DWP to reinstate the mobility component on the basis that the award of it before she went abroad shows that conditions were met before she turned 65 and is the same (or worse) now.

Does anyone else have a view?

I agree with Ros, provided the entitlement existed before they went abroad, then it continues unbroken but payment of mobility is suspended.

As such, when they return to the UK, it should simply be a case of putting the mobility component back into payment - this is equivalent to someone going into hospital for example and losing the care component after 28 days. Entitlement maintains but payability is affected during the period of absence.

Maybe try the DWP exportability team to see whether they can get things sorted. Contact details including an online form down the page.

And I don’t agree this should lead to an invitation to claim PIP - the request isn’t about having entitlement to DLA reassessed (that’s already been done before they went away), this is simply about getting the mobility component put back into payment.

However as your client would have been under 65 on 8 April 2013, it’s entirely possible that they could be invited to claim PIP now as part of the migration and then they would have no choice but to look at claiming PIP.

‘As long as the award was changed to the care component when they moved abroad before the client turned 65 and hasn’t been revised or renewed since, and you’re confident about eligibility for the care component and so happy to have award looked at… ‘

Thank you both, this is very helpful.

Ros, do you consider then that the whole award may be looked at again, as opposed to the mobility component simply being reinstated? We are advising by email as the client has not consented to a phone call, so cannot say whether she still meets the criteria for the care component, or whether there have been any renewals/revisions since they moved abroad. The client states that both she and her son have the same health problems as they had 12 years ago (probably with deterioration over time) so presumably would still meet the eligibility criteria.

So they either stick with the status quo, pending review or invitation to claim PIP, or request reinstatement of the mobility component with attendant risk of reassessment.

Hi again, I do think there’s a risk that asking them to look at the claim could prompt them to look at the care component and so I’d want to be fairly sure the eligibility for that is secure - as you say, it may be that your client’s care needs have got worse and eligibility is quite clear - perhaps if you tell her why you’d like more information, she may consent to a phone call.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 08 June 2022 03:36 PM

And I don’t agree this should lead to an invitation to claim PIP - the request isn’t about having entitlement to DLA reassessed (that’s already been done before they went away), this is simply about getting the mobility component put back into payment.

However as your client would have been under 65 on 8 April 2013, it’s entirely possible that they could be invited to claim PIP now as part of the migration and then they would have no choice but to look at claiming PIP.

have gone back and double checked and I’m more certain they shouldn’t be invited to claim PIP simply because they ask for the mobility component to be put back into payment.

The Personal Independence Payment (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2013 talks about someone who “reports a change of circumstances” as being liable to be sent an invitation to claim PIP.

Reg.2 defines “change of circumstances” means a change of circumstances which a person might reasonably have been expected to know might affect the continuance of that person’s entitlement to disability living allowance (by ending entitlement to one component or both components or resulting in entitlement to one or both components being at a different rate);

As above, this is not a question of entitlement to the mobility component, it’s a question of whether it is paid or not. Can’t guarantee anything of course and if they did decide to send the PIP invitation to claim anyway, I don’t think your client could necessarily challenge that due to her age and the migration programme.

Thank you both for your help.