Disabled people with lifelong conditions facing ‘unnecessary’ Pip reassessments

‘Pointless’ reviews are wasting public money and ‘significantly harming’ the mental health of claimants, charity says

Disabled people with lifelong conditions are repeatedly being put through “pointless” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance, new analysis suggests.

A study by the anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are going through “unnecessary” personal independence payment (Pip) reviews, “wasting” public money and “significantly harming” the mental and physical health of claimants.

Figures show 73% of people with learning disabilities, 86% of those who had an amputation, and 62% of claimants with cerebral palsy were given fixed-term awards – meaning they are required to undergo reassessments every three years. This also applied to 89% of claimants with multiple sclerosis and 61% with Parkinson’s – conditions with little to no prospect of significant improvement.

Samuel Thomas, senior policy adviser at Z2K, said: “Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance says disabled people with lifelong and progressive conditions should not be reassessed more than once a decade – but the data shows these rules simply aren’t being followed.

“Shockingly high proportions of disabled people qualifying on the basis of lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy, permanent hearing loss and amputated limbs are being forced to undergo pointless reassessments, even though their disabilities will not change.”

Almost 75% of planned award reviews last year – equivalent to more than 500,000 reassessments – resulted in no change to the person’s payments, Z2K found. This included many cases involving claimants already receiving the highest level of support, who were reassessed even though their health is unlikely to improve.

Of reviews that led to payments being changed, 10% were increased, while 16% were decreased or stopped.