Little progress made reviewing PIP claims in past year
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that they have only reviewed 140,000 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cases (less than 10 per cent) in the last year.
The ruling meant that the Government must now go back and review all 1.6 million cases of people who need support from PIP to check who might be eligible for more money. Around 220,000 of the 1.6million people receiving PIP need this support primarily due to their mental health. Many of these people could be missing out on additional funds which help them live full, independent lives.
The statistics also revealed that, of those who had had their cases reviewed and were found to be entitled to more support, people received an average of £4,500 – a huge amount of money, particularly for those who need support from the benefits system because their health makes it difficult to work.
Responding to these figures, Paul Spencer, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Mind said:
“We were pleased when last year, the High Court recognised that Government changes to Personal Independent Payment (PIP) were discriminatory against people with mental health conditions, and as a result, everyone receiving this benefit would need to have their claim reviewed to see if they were entitled to more money. We know support provided through PIP can make the difference between whether or not people can get to work or appointments, see loved ones and live independently.
“These figures show that there are hundreds of thousands of cases left to review and that people who have had their cases reviewed are owed thousands of pounds on average. This is a huge amount of money, especially for those of us who need support from the benefits system. We want to see the Government move quickly but thoroughly to make sure that everyone who is due a back payment gets it and nobody falls through the gaps. In many cases people are waiting for a significant sum which will have a huge impact on their lives.”
