Some of the main benefits are.
Benefit. Can it continue abroad on medical grounds.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Yes usually up to 13 weeks, or up to 26 weeks if the absence is for medical treatment.
Attendance Allowance. (AL) Yes. The same general rules as PIP for temporary absences.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Yes under similar temporary absences rules.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
Contribution based (new style) Normally up to 4 weeks abroad, but up to 26 weeks if abroad for medical treatment.
Universal Credit. Normally up to 4 weeks abroad, but up to six months if abroad for approved medical treatment
or approved recovery (Convalescence). In certain cases for your partner or child.
There is also a separate issue of exportability. Some disability benefits can, in limited circumstances, continue if a person moves permanently to an EEA country or Switzerland, depending on factors such as National Insurance contributions, work history, or rights preserved under the Withdrawal Agreement. However, not every component is exportable—for example, the PIP mobility component generally cannot be exported under these rules.
One assumption that often causes problems is that a claimant who is too ill to remain in the UK can simply relocate abroad and continue receiving all of their benefits. That is generally incorrect. Each benefit has its own statutory conditions, and many require the claimant to remain habitually resident in the UK or limit the period of absence.
- some disability benefits can continue during periods of medical treatment abroad;
- some benefits can be exported in limited circumstances; and
- others, particularly Universal Credit, have much stricter absence rules.
Those distinctions are often misunderstood.