Adult Disability Payment (ADP) | Rates

What is Adult Disability Payment?

Adult Disability Payment is replacing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to new applicants in Scotland.

If you already receive PIP, you don’t need to do anything, it will be switched automatically. The amount is the same and you should not have any disruptions to your payments.

You can’t claim both Adult Disability Payment and PIP at the same time.

A total of 192,575 people were in receipt of Adult Disability Payment, as of 31 January 2024.

How much is Adult Disability Payment in 2025?

Currently the rates for Adult Disability Payment are exactly the same as Personal Independence Payment.
 

	Daily Living	Mobility
Standard	£73.90	£29.20
Enhanced	£110.40	£77.05

The Daily Living component is for people who need support with everyday tasks, such as personal care, communication, taking medication or meeting other people.

The Mobility component is for people who need support with physical movement, getting from place to place or getting out of their home.

Whether you receive the standard or enhanced rate of either of these components depends on your level of difficulty in either area. You can receive both components at the same time. 

Who is eligible for Adult Disability Payment?

The benefit is for people who:

• Live in Scotland
• Are aged between 16 and state pension age
• Live with at least one of the following:
  • A long-term physical health condition
  • A long-term mental health condition
  • A disability
  • A terminal illness

How many points do I need to qualify for ADP?

Social Security Scotland make a decision on your Adult Disability Payment claim by using a points system.

They will rate your responses and award you points. The number of points will affect whether you are awarded ADP and how much you get.

To be entitled to the Standard rate you will need to score at least 8 points.

To be entitled to the Enhanced rate you will need to score at least 12 points.

What’s the difference between Adult Disability Payment and PIP?

The difference between Adult Disability Payment and Personal Independence Payment is the assessment process. Social Security Scotland have aimed to make Adult Disability Payment as easy and accessible as possible.

Ways they do this include:

• Applicants can apply via phone, face-to-face, paper forms or online. Assessments will also be carried out in the most accessible way possible, including with a choice of appointment dates and times.
• Anybody whose claim is unsuccessful will be given detailed reasons why. If they challenge a decision about their claim, they will be able to claim Short Term Assistance in the meantime.
• Any appointments will, if the claimant gives permission, be audio-recorded. This is so that there is a record of exactly what the claimant has said, reducing the chance of the Social Security Scotland practitioner missing anything. It also means the recording can be referred back to if the claimant feels their needs have not been understood correctly.

Will the changes to PIP affect ADP?

The government in Westminster announced a raft of welfare reforms on 18 March 2025.

In November 2026, the eligibility criteria for PIP in England and Wales is being tightened up and will be targeted more at people with higher needs. 

Scotland, however has its own social security system, and so far has said it has no plans to reform the way ADP is distributed.

So people living in Scotland receiving ADP are currently unaffected by the UK government’s plans to change welfare benefits.

Some people in Scotland still receive PIP but they should have all been moved over to ADP by the end of 2025.

What happens when I retire?

If you already get Adult Disability Payment, you will stay on it when you reach State Pension age and you will not transfer over to Pension Age Disability Payment.

How to apply

You can apply for Adult Disability Payment once applications are open in your council area.

If it hasn’t started in your area yet, you can apply for Personal Independence Payment instead.

Online

To apply online, first check that you can apply yet here.

If you can apply for Adult Disability Payment, it’ll take you here.

Telephone

To apply by telephone, call: 0800 182 2222

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

You can only do the first part of the application by phone, unless you are terminally ill or applying for someone who is.

The second part of the application will be sent to you by post.

Post

If you’d like to apply by post, you need to initially call the phone number above to give some details and request an application form to be sent to you.

If you cannot use a telephone, you can use the contact Scotland app.