This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the Right Payment Programme . You can find out more detailed information about social care in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook, available to buy at www.radar-shop.org.uk/.
All our publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Rights UK on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm.
The Right Payment Programme (RPP) is a system for checking that your disability living allowance (DLA) claim is correct. It was introduced in May 2007 to replace the Periodic Review (PR).
The RPP takes a sample of 12,000 DLA cases each year (there are 2.5 million people on DLA). Of these, 3750 are chosen at random and the remaining 8250 cases are chosen from those awards, which Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) research has shown, are most likely to change.
You are only exempt from the RPP if you are terminally ill. However if your DLA has been paid under the Special Rules (for terminal illness cases) for over three years, you may be sent an enquiry form asking for up-to-date information on your condition.
You should not be contacted under the RPP if your claim has been awarded within the last 12 months.
If you are selected, you will be sent a form to complete and return by post. This is based on the DLA claim form you completed. If you have not kept a copy of your old claim form but want to consult it for reference you can ask the DWP for a copy.
The enquiry form must be returned within three weeks, although you can ask for a little longer if necessary.
Once you have returned it the form is considered by a special team of decision makers. If these decision makers consider there has been a change in your entitlement they will change your award. In some cases you will be contacted and asked to supply more information before a decision is made.
You can get help and information at your local advice centre, such as a Citizens Advice Bureau. You can get more information about where to get personal advice from our Factsheet F15 - Finding a local advice centre, available at www.disabilityalliance.org/f15.htm.
5 April 2011