More than 74,000 people on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could be waiting years for a boost to their benefits. A huge backlog of assessments of existing PIP awards means people could face delays of up to 10 years before they get the right amounts.
This could also mean that 78,000 people are still receiving PIP payments when their claim should have been stopped due to improvements in their health, while over 27,000 people should receive a lower amount.
PIP can provide extra money to people with disabilities and long-term health conditions if they struggle with daily tasks and mobility. The two elements are a standard and a premium rate, and people can receive total amounts ranging from £290 to £737 a month. However, proposed changes could see these payments replaced by vouchers, with suggestions that claims awarded for mental health conditions are most likely to be targeted.
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The DWP wants to cut its soaring welfare bill by £12bn, with analysts suggesting that the reassessment of claims could be a key point in moving people onto a new system that offers vouchers, grants and shopping catalogues to buy equipment and treatment. If the changes are approved under a new government, many more new PIP claims would also be rejected, with claimants being offered therapy instead.
A Freedom of Information request submitted to the DWP by the Benefits and Work website revealed that hundreds of thousands of people are waiting for their claims to be reassessed. According to the DWP, there were 392,000 outstanding PIP award assessments in England and Wales as of 31 May 2024.
The DWP says the reason people already in receipt of PIP are having to wait so long for a reassessment is because it is facing huge pressure from the number of new claims being made. According to the latest figures, a record 250,000 people claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in the quarter between 31 January and 30 April 2024. That means an average of more than 80,000 new claims are being made for the benefit each month.
The latest PIP statistics also show that the DWP only managed to reduce the backlog of assessments by 10,000 in the last quarter. At that rate, it would take just under 10 years to clear the number of people currently waiting.
DWP statistics over the past five years relating to the outcomes of the planned award assessment show the following:
- 19 percent resulted in higher payments
- For 54 percent, their payments remained at the same level
- 7 percent had their payments reduced
- In 20 percent of cases, the PIP award was rejected, which resulted in payments being stopped
If we apply these percentages to the current backlog of 392,000 claims, we see the following:
- 74,480 applicants receive lower PIP amounts than they are entitled to
- 27,440 claimants receive higher benefits than they should
- 78,400 claimants may no longer be eligible for PIP and payments will be stopped
A DWP spokesperson said: “The main reason for the long time it is taking to complete PIP award assessments is the very high demand for PIP. We are seeing an unprecedented number of new claims. To manage this demand and ensure cases are paid out as quickly as possible, we are prioritising these claims.”
The DWP added that it was looking to recruit additional case managers and that measures were being taken to increase the number of care professionals carrying out assessments and evaluations. However, it also stressed that it “takes time to train and consolidate new staff.”
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