People with these 27 conditions get 'unexpected' £749 DWP payments today

An unexpected payment of £749 from the DWP is landing in accounts for many benefits claimants today.

Normally, Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are paid out every four weeks and the exact day of the week that you'll be paid depends on various factors such as the date you started your claim and your National Insurance number.

This coming Monday, May 26 is a Bank Holiday, which means banks are closed and DWP payments will not be sent. As a result, any payments which were due to be made on Monday are instead being pulled forwards to today, Friday May 23.

It means that many PIP claimants will be waking up to a payment of up to £749.80 in their bank account today, should it have been due on Monday.

Despite planned changes coming to PIP eligibility, for now the Department for Work and Pensions still offers payments for PIP as it always has, and from April the 4-weekly payments went up by 1.7% for inflation. It means someone claiming both parts of PIP at the enhanced rate could get as much as £749.80 every four weeks. The monthly amount is slightly higher (£817) but PIP is actually paid 13 times a year, every four weeks, so each individual payment is £749.80 maximum.

It means that if you have a health condition or disability that affects your daily life, you could see benefits totalling a maximum of £110.40 a week for daily living costs and £77.05 a week for mobility costs.

Eligibility for the benefit depends on an assessment, so having one of these conditions isn’t a guarantee of being able to claim the cash, and having a health condition not listed here could still see you eligible.

But as a starting point, those with these 27 NHS recognised conditions are likely to have a good chance of qualifying for some level of PIP cash.

To be eligible for PIP, you need to have a health condition or disability that has caused problems with daily living or getting around (or both) for three months. The problems must be expected to continue for at least another nine months and you need to stay in the UK.

27 conditions that could qualify you for Personal Independence Payments (PIP):

• Sleep apnoea - obstructive

• Upper respiratory tract - other diseases of/type not known

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

• Chronic bronchitis

• Cystic fibrosis

• Emphysema

• Empyema

• Epilepsy

• Bronchiectasis

• Asthma

• Asbestosis

• Extrinsic allergic alveolitis

• Fibrosing alveolitis

• Sarcoidosis

• Silicosis

• Granulomatous lung disease

• Pulmonary infiltration

• Pulmonary fibrosis - other/type not known

• Pneumoconiosis

• Pulmonary fibrosis

• Pleura

• Pleural effusion

• Pneumothorax

• Pulmonary embolus

• Pneumonia

• Lung transplantation

• Heart and lung transplantation

The PIP payments are made up of two elements for living and two for mobility:

• Standard rate for daily living: £73.90 per week from April

• Enhanced rate for daily living: £110.40 a week

• Standard rate for mobility: £29.20 a week

• Enhanced rate for mobility: £77.05 per week.