Special Rules for End of Life — the SR1 form
The SR1 is a one-page form a clinician sends to the Department for Work and Pensions. It tells the DWP that you have a serious illness expected to shorten your life, and it routes every benefit claim you make under what used to be called ‘Special Rules for Terminal Illness’ and is now called Special Rules for End of Life. After IIDB, this is one of the most important steps in the UK benefits system for people with mesothelioma. Asking for an SR1 early doesn’t change your illness; it only starts the financial support process sooner.
A note before the detail: the wording on this form is clinical, and we won’t hide that. The form asks your clinician to confirm that, in their professional judgement, you may be expected to die within twelve months. Reading those words for the first time is hard. Two things to know:
- The threshold was widened from six months to twelve months in stages. For Great Britain it began with Universal Credit and ESA on 4 April 2022, and was extended to PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance on 3 April 2023. Northern Ireland introduced equivalent twelve-month rules across all five benefits from April 2022 under its own Social Security (Terminal Illness) Act. Many GPs, family members and old guides still talk about six months; twelve is the current rule across DWP benefits.
- The clinician’s judgement is a professional view against DWP guidance, not a prediction. People routinely live longer than twelve months on an SR1. Doing so doesn’t cancel the benefit and doesn’t mean anybody got the form wrong.
What it can help with.An SR1 doesn’t hand out money by itself; you still have to claim the relevant benefit. What it does is take every claim you make and put it on the fast track:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)if you’re under State Pension age. The enhanced rate of the daily-living component is paid automatically, with no face-to-face assessment and no qualifying waiting period. The mobility component isn’t automatic and is usually considered separately on paper. Chapter 6.3 covers PIP in detail.
- Attendance Allowance (AA)if you’re over State Pension age, paid automatically at the higher rate, with no face-to-face assessment. Chapter 6.4.
- Universal Credit (UC)with automatic Limited Capability for Work & Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) status — meaning no Work Capability Assessment and no Claimant Commitment. Chapter 6.7.
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the support group from day one. For most new claims this means New Style ESA; legacy income-related ESA still applies to a smaller group. Chapter 6.7.
- Devolved equivalents.In Scotland, devolved disability benefits — Adult Disability Payment and Pension Age Disability Payment — have their own fast-track route called BASRiS(Benefits Assessment under Special Rules in Scotland), completed by a registered clinician through Social Security Scotland. The Scottish route doesn’t require a fixed twelve-month life expectancy; it uses its own clinical-judgement test. Reserved benefits in Scotland — Universal Credit and ESA — still use the DWP SR1. Northern Ireland uses an equivalent fast-track. Wales follows the same rules as England. Chapter 6.13 maps the differences across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Who can complete it.A GP, a hospital consultant, a hospice doctor, or a senior specialist nurse — Macmillan nurses and clinical nurse specialists in mesothelioma typically qualify. GPs are the most common route. Specialist mesothelioma nurses often offer to arrange it and may complete the form themselves. Mesothelioma UK’s freephone helpline on 0800 169 2409 can talk you or your clinician through it.
How to ask.If your team hasn’t offered an SR1, a short script works:
‘Could you complete an SR1 for me so that my benefit claims go through under Special Rules for End of Life? I know the form’s wording is hard, and I’d still like to have it on file.’
The patient should not be charged. Eligible doctors and nurses claim a small fee from the DWP separately, not from you.
How it gets to the DWP.The clinician submits the form through the GOV.UK ‘Send an SR1 medical evidence form’ service — online, by secure email, or by post. You don’t need to chase it. If you want a copy for your own records, ask the clinician at the time.
A note on being told.For PIP, DLA and Attendance Allowance, DWP rules allow a third party to make a Special Rules claim even where the patient hasn’t been told their prognosis. For Universal Credit and ESA, only a formal appointee, or someone with a Lasting Power of Attorney, can claim on behalf of an unaware patient. Clinically, GMC guidance treats withholding prognosis as a very exceptional step, used only where the clinician judges that disclosure would cause the patient serious harm — not where they think it would simply be upsetting. In mesothelioma practice this situation is rare, because the diagnosis conversation almost always addresses prognosis. If you are reading this on behalf of someone who has not been told, speak to their specialist nurse or hospice team about what to do; this is not a decision to make alone.
What it doesn’t do.An SR1 doesn’t affect a civil compensation claim. It doesn’t affect IIDB (chapter 6.5), which has its own form (BI100A). It doesn’t affect the 1979 Pneumoconiosis Act lump sum or the 2014 Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme. It is a way of speeding up DWP benefit claims, nothing more.
Common worries.
- ‘Will I have to give the money back if I live longer?’ No. Special Rules entitlement runs until the underlying benefit is reviewed in the ordinary way. Living beyond twelve months is not a clawback event.
- ‘Will it appear on my medical record in a way employers can see?’ No. SR1s are sent to the DWP, not to employers. Your GP record will note the form, but GP records aren’t shared with employers without your specific consent.
- ‘Do I have to be at the surgery to do it?’ No. Many GPs complete SR1s by phone or after a home visit. Hospice and community palliative teams often arrange them at home.
The practical move.If you haven’t had this conversation yet, ring your GP surgery this week, mention mesothelioma, and ask for an SR1. Ask for it to be treated as urgent. The form, the script and the fast-track benefit claims that follow can together raise weekly household income significantly within weeks of diagnosis, which is exactly what the system was redesigned to do.