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People receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) may face potential fines if they travel abroad for lengthy periods without informing the authorities. The benefit provides crucial financial assistance to people with long-term health conditions or disabilities, as well as those struggling with daily activities or mobility issues.

However, recipients must comply with strict Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) regulationsto continue receiving support. Since PIP payments are calculated according to individual circumstances, any alterations to these must be declared as they could impact entitlement amounts.

DWP guidelines specify that certain circumstantial changes require notification to the PIP enquiry line. A crucial modification that might influence your claim involves planning foreign travel exceeding four weeks, regardless of whether it is for leisure or alternative purposes.

Official GOV.UK guidance warns: "You could be taken to court or have to pay a penalty if you give wrong information or do not report a change straight away."

PIP claimants must report the following changes to avoid a potential penalty:

• You go into foster care or into the care of a local authority or health and social care trust
• Your husband, wife, civil partner or a parent you depend on starts or stops getting benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• You plan to go abroad for more than 4 weeks
• You're imprisoned or held in detention
• You start or stop getting pensions or benefits from an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• You go into a residential school or college
• Your immigration status changes and you're not a British or Irish citizen
• Your health professional tells you that your condition will last for a longer or shorter time than you reported before
• You go into a hospital, a hospice, a nursing home or a care home
• You need more or less help with daily living and mobility tasks
• A medical professional has said you might have 12 months or less to live (you could get PIP at a higher rate under 'special rules for end of life')
• Your personal details change such as name, address, phone number, bank account, doctor, etc
• The person acting on your behalf changes (where applicable)

You may also need to report a change if you go into a care home and:

• You were staying in the care home temporarily and you become a permanent resident
• You go into hospital
• There's a change to the way your care home fees are funded (for example, you start or stop getting funding from the NHS or local council)
• You move to another care home

If you have experienced a change in circumstances, you will need to call the PIP enquiry line. You can do this by dialling 08000 121 443 or 0800 121 4493 for a textphone. If you have difficulty speaking or hearing, you can dial 18001 then 0800 121 443 for Relay UK.

When contacting the enquiry line, you can also ask for someone else to be added to the call or ask someone else to call on your behalf if needed.

Full details on all the changes that could affect your PIP claim can be found here.