Disability
Adult Disability Payment: Scotland’s version of PIP, and moving across the border
The rates and points match PIP; the agency, the process and the rules for people who move do not.
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Adult Disability Payment is the disability benefit for people aged 16 to State Pension age who live in Scotland, paid by Social Security Scotland instead of PIP from the DWP. The money is identical: £76.70 or £114.60 a week for the daily living part and £30.30 or £80.00 for mobility in 2026/27, up to £194.60 in all. The decision uses the same twelve activities and point scores as PIP, and income, savings and work do not count. Differences lie in the process: you can apply online, by phone or on paper, the award runs from the day you submit part one of the application, and payment comes every four weeks after the first four weeks have passed. The border matters most. Someone on PIP who moves to Scotland keeps it for only 13 weeks and must make a new claim for Adult Disability Payment; someone leaving Scotland must claim PIP straight away.
PIP to Adult Disability Payment: your dates
PIP ends
31 January 2027
| Weeks of PIP still paid in Scotland | 13 |
| Adult Disability Payment at the same rates | £107.00 a week |
| Lost for each month without an ADP claim | £464 |
Apply for Adult Disability Payment as soon as you arrive: a successful award can be backdated to the day after PIP ends.
Rates in 2026/27
| Part | Standard | Enhanced |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living, a week | £76.70 | £114.60 |
| Mobility, a week | £30.30 | £80.00 |
| Daily living, every 4 weeks | £306.80 | £458.40 |
| Mobility, every 4 weeks | £121.20 | £320.00 |
The Scottish Government’s up-rating report raised each rate by 3.8 %, from £73.90, £110.40, £29.20 and £77.05. It also lists a transitional rate of £30.30: adults moved across from the lowest care rate of DLA, which has no equivalent in Adult Disability Payment, are paid it until their case is reviewed against the ADP rules.
Same test, different agency
The daily living part looks at ten activities, from preparing food and taking nutrition to engaging with people face to face and making budgeting decisions; the mobility part at planning and following journeys and moving around. Mygov.scot lists them in the same words as the PIP regulations, and the decision letter gives the points for each of the twelve activities with the reasons. The PIP points calculator therefore works for Adult Disability Payment too: 8 points in a part for the standard rate, 12 for the enhanced.
What changes is the experience of claiming. Social Security Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Government, not of the DWP. You can apply online, by phone or on paper, and it says you can apply while still waiting for a diagnosis. Where it needs more information it may invite you to a consultation, and its decision makers can draw on in-house medical practitioners and specialist advisers in health and social care. People living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Gibraltar who have spent a major part of their lives in Scotland can apply from abroad.
If an existing award is reduced or stopped and you challenge the decision, Social Security Scotland can pay short-term assistance while the re-determination or appeal is under way, so that you are not discouraged from challenging by a drop in income.
Payment
Entitlement starts from the date you submitted part one online or completed it by phone. The first payment arrives after the first four weeks have passed, and later payments come every four weeks into a bank account. People who are terminally ill are paid weekly in advance and automatically get the enhanced daily living rate.
Moving from England or Wales to Scotland
This is the situation that costs people money. Mygov.scot warns that entitlement to DWP disability and carer benefits stops 13 weeks after the date you move, and GOV.UK says the same of PIP. The DWP keeps paying for those weeks, then stops, whatever stage your new claim has reached.
Take a man on the enhanced daily living rate and standard mobility, £144.90 a week, who moves from Carlisle to Dumfries on 2 November 2026. His PIP entitlement ends on 1 February 2027. Social Security Scotland can take several weeks to process an application, so applying in his first week in Scotland gives him the best chance of no gap; waiting for the DWP’s letter confirming the end date risks weeks with nothing. A successful award can be backdated to the day after PIP ends, but only once Social Security Scotland has his application. The order of steps is simple:
- Tell the DWP your new address as soon as you move. Check they will pay you for the 13 weeks and have the right bank details.
- Apply to Social Security Scotland straight away (0800 182 2222 or online), without waiting for the DWP letter.
- Tell anyone who gets Carer’s Allowance for you: a gap in your disability benefit can stop theirs, and they too must move to Carer Support Payment.
The same 13-week rule applies to someone moving from Northern Ireland, where the Department for Communities pays PIP.
Moving from Scotland to England or Wales
In the other direction, tell Social Security Scotland and claim PIP as soon as you arrive. Social Security Scotland tells you when Adult Disability Payment will stop; GOV.UK warns that delaying the PIP claim can affect your payments. Your ADP decision letter, with points for every activity, is useful evidence for the DWP.
Young people and pensioners
Children in Scotland get Child Disability Payment. The move to Adult Disability Payment is not automatic: a young person can apply from 13 weeks before turning 16 and up to their 18th birthday, keeping Child Disability Payment until the decision. At the other end, someone already on Adult Disability Payment keeps it after State Pension age, while new claims after that age are for Pension Age Disability Payment, Scotland’s version of Attendance Allowance.
What it opens for a carer
The daily living part at either rate is a qualifying benefit for a carer. In Scotland the carer claims Carer Support Payment of £86.45 a week plus the Scottish Carer Supplement; a carer living in England or Wales who looks after someone on Adult Disability Payment claims Carer’s Allowance instead. Like PIP, Adult Disability Payment in the household also exempts it from the benefit cap.