Less than half of people who started new Personal Independence Payments over the last five years have been successful in securing the disability benefits, figures released by the Department of Work and Pensions show. But people who applied for the benefit in the three months to the end of July have a higher success rate, with 44% of the 180,000 new claims resulting in an award.
Around 2.7m people in the England and Wales people claim PIP, a benefit paid to working-age people who have extra care or mobility needs as a result of a disability. In Scotland, PIP is gradually being replaced by adult disability payment (ADP), which will result in separate figures.
The figures show that for the five years from August 2017 to July 2022, out of a total of 2.5 million claims, 39% were successful. 600,000 were disallowed or withdrawn before the claimant had an assessment and of those, who agreed to an assessment, only 50% got an award of PIP.
As well as five year statistics, the DWP also provided data for the quarter ending in July 2022, which showed 180,000 new claims were registered, the highest level since PIP began and 21% higher than the same period last year.. Most of these awards (78%) were only for up to two years before review was needed, with just 11% of people being awarded longer-term PIP. Ten per cent of claims were ongoing.
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The benefit is usually awarded for a fixed length of time and then is reviewed to determine whether the claim is still valid. If you're awarded PIP for a fixed time of more than 2 years, the DWP will usually review your award before it ends.. If a claimant is awarded 'an indefinite award' this is usually reviewed every 10 years.
The new figures also show that there is a 32% chance of being worse off after your award is reviewed, as 10% of people had their award decreased and a further 22% had their claim disallowed completely. Nearly half (49%) had their award unchanged after review, and 18% found their award had been increased.
PIP is made up of 2 parts - called 'components', with the maximum weekly amount payable £156.90. Claimants are not charged tax on PIP and families where at least one member claims the benefit are not affected by the benefits cap.
People who applied for PIP and were not awarded it can challenge the decision by requesting a mandatory reconsideration in the first instance. However DWP announced last month that it will automatically extend PIP awards that are awaiting review from the current three months by up to 12 months, as it clears a backlog.
DWP will automatically be sending out letters from October 31 confirming the length of the extended award for individuals. Before the end of October, claimants will continue to receive a text message 35 days before their award end date to notify them of the extension.
The new figures show that 60,000 mandatory reconsiderations were registered in the latest quarter and 80,000 were cleared, with only 23% leading to a change in the award. The average time taken for a mandatory reconsideration was 26 days, down from a high of 79 days in September 2021.
A spokesman from the DWP said: “PIP is available to people with long-term health conditions or disabilities if they have had daily living and/or mobility needs for three months and are expected to have needs for at least a further nine months - this applies to all conditions. It is assessed on the basis of needs arising and not a diagnosis or condition. Alongside PIP, people may also be entitled to additional financial support through Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance.
“For the majority of PIP claims, we get decisions right and all assessments are carried out by healthcare professionals trained to consider the impact of someone’s health condition or disability.”
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