DWP blunder means thousands of PIP claimants could be owed up to 7 years backpay as probe launched

William Morgan
·3-min read

Thousands of older people in Britain were incorrectly denied an upgrade to their Personal Independence Payments in the 2010s, following a major blunder by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). A review of the failure to provide enhanced mobility payments has promised to pay back anyone who missed out on extra payments.

Disability benefits advocates have called PIP legislation "badly drafted" after it emerged that thousands of older Brits, who had their PIP claim reviewed between 2013 and 2020, missed out on receiving enhanced payments for mobility issues. This could affect anyone over the State Pension age who was entitled to an enhanced mobility payment, even if you had already stopped receiving PIP.

Confusion over how health assessors decided the final PIP mobility award led to many thousands of people missing out on help with disability, with claimants who did not explicitly state in their assessment that their movement needs had changed missing out on years of payment. The higher mobility award is currently worth £75.75 per week, or £3939 per year.

READ MORE: HMRC issues new update on missing child benefit payments as 500,000 affected

Benefits and Work explained where the DWP had gone wrong, saying: "Generally, claimants who have reached pension age can’t have an award of the standard rate of the PIP mobility award increased to enhanced.

"However, because the law in this regard was badly drafted, claimants who didn’t ask for an increase, but who had a PIP review at which a health assessor found they now met the criteria for an enhanced award, may be entitled to the higher rate.

You may be entitled to an increased award for the mobility part of your PIP, even if you have stopped getting PIP, if all of the following apply:

  • You had your PIP claim reviewed between 8 April 2013 and 29 November 2020

  • You were over State Pension age

  • You received the standard rate of the mobility award

  • You did not report a change in your circumstances that affected your mobility needs

  • You had a health professional assessment which recommended the enhanced rate of the mobility award

  • You continued to receive the standard rate of the mobility award

  • Your decision letter told you we could not increase your mobility award because you were over State Pension age

How to apply to have your PIP claim reviewed

If you believe that this affected your PIP award, you will need to get in touch with the DWP to request a review. Using the PIP hotline, which runs Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, you will need to request a "Regulation 27 administrative exercise review".

The PIP hotline number is 0800 121 6579, but if you have accessibility issues there are other ways to contact the DWP available on Gov.uk. You will need your National Insurance number to hand so that assessors can find your original claim.

Once the DWP has had a look at your case, they will get in touch if you need to provide any more information to support the review of your PIP claim. If you meet the eligibility criteria, the DWP will then calculate how much money you should have been paid over that period.

The DWP says: "If we should have paid you more, we will pay this to you."

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