Yahoo News DWP PIP delays could see 74,000 claimants waiting up to 10 years for extra cash
More than 74,000 people on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could end up waiting years for their payments to be increased. A huge backlog in reviews of existing PIP awards means people may face delays of up to 10 years in getting the correct amounts.
This could also mean 78,000 people are continuing to receive PIP payments when their claim should have been stopped because of improvements in their health, while over 27,000 should be on lower amounts.
PIP can award extra cash to people with disabilities and long-term health conditions if they struggle with everyday tasks and mobility. The two elements have a standard and enhanced rate and people can receive total amounts varying 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 bring down the spiralling welfare bill by £12 billion, with analysts suggesting that the reassessment of claims could be a key point for moving people onto a new system offering vouchers, grants and shopping catalogues to purchase equipment and treatment. If approved under a new government, the changes will also mean far more new PIP claims are rejected, with applicants offered therapy instead.
A Freedom of Information request submitted to the DWP by the Benefits and Work website showed that hundreds of thousands of people are waiting to have their claims re-examined. As of May 31, 2024, there are 392,000 outstanding PIP award reviews in England and Wales, the DWP said.
The DWP said the reason for people who are already on PIP facing such a lengthy hold-up in being reassessed was that it was dealing with huge pressure from the number of new claims being submitted. Record numbers of 250,000 people applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in the quarter between January 31 and April 30, 2024, according to the most recent figures. That means an average of more than 80,000 new claims are made for the benefit each month.
The latest PIP statistics also show that in the last quarter, the DWP only managed to reduce the backlog of reviews by 10,000. At that rate, it would take just under 10 years to work through the number of people currently waiting.
DWP statistics over the past five years for planned award review outcomes reveal that:
19 per cent resulted in increased payments
54 per cent saw their payments maintained at the same level
7 per cent saw their payments reduced
20 per cent had their PIP award disallowed so payments were stopped
Applying these percentages to the current backlog of 392,000 claims suggests that:
74,480 claimants are receiving lower amounts of PIP than they are entitled to
27,440 claimants are receiving higher awards than they should be getting
78,400 claimants may no longer be eligible to receive PIP and payments will end up being stopped
A DWP spokesperson said: "The main reason for the length of time to complete PIP award reviews is very high demand for PIP. We are seeing unprecedented numbers of new claims being made. To manage this demand and ensure cases are put into payment as soon as possible, we are prioritising these claims."
The DWP added that it was recruiting additional case managers and that steps were being taken to increase the number of healthcare professionals who carry out reviews and assessments, but stressed that it "takes time to train and consolidate new entrants."
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