The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is overwhelmed by an ever-increasing number of claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Around 3.5 million people are currently out of work as a result of ill health or disability.
Last year saw a sharp rise in PIP claims, with many new entrants facing a three-month limbo before receiving any support. The number of working-age people unable to work due to illness or disability soared in the wake of Covid-19, amid unprecedented delays to routine and specialist NHS services.
The rising numbers mean there is greater demand for financial support to cope with the extra costs associated with health conditions. Waiting times for assessment can be up to 12 weeks and applicants have just a two in five chance of making a successful application, LancashireLive reports.
It’s important to understand the five most common mistakes that make applications difficult. However, there is a silver lining if the delay in the first payment is causing you undue stress: the DWP has committed to backdating the preliminary payment to the date you initially submitted your application.
Further reforms could be on the way, as Labour’s manifesto states: “Work capability assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced.”
Five things you should know about PIP before filing a claim:
- Entitlement to PIP is not based solely on an individual’s health status or disability, but on the long-term impact that a health status or disability has on an individual’s daily life or mobility.
- To qualify for PIP, the impacts of a health condition or disability must have been present for three months and are expected to last at least nine more months.
- PIP applicants will undergo a functional assessment which will take into account how their health condition or disability affects 12 key daily activities that are essential to living an independent life.
- If a person can perform the mobility and daily living activities of the PIP safely, at an acceptable level, repeatedly and within a reasonable period of time, without the support of someone or without using equipment, it is unlikely They will receive PIP.
- When applying for PIP, people should provide all relevant information they already have about how their health condition affects them. This can mean that a health professional can assess the application using this information and does not need a face-to-face or virtual consultation, and a decision can be made more quickly. The DWP says that people should not request new documents for their application as these may attract a fee, for example from GPs.
12 PIP activities considered in the evaluation
- Preparing food;
- Eating and drinking;
- Treatment management;
- Washing and bathing;
- Managing bathroom needs;
- Dressing and undressing;
- Release;
- Reading;
- Mix with other people;
- Making decisions about money;
- Go out;
- Moving around.
For each task, the DWP will consider:
- If you can do so safely;
- Wow, that takes you so long!
- How often your condition affects this activity;
- Whether you need help to do it, either from a person or using additional equipment.
