In the last month, Benefits and Work has heard from four members who have received a backdated payment of PIP because of errors relating to the “Engaging with other people face to face” activity. Payments have ranged from £5,000 to £12,000.
You can read more here about the errors that were made and who might be eligible for a back payment.
The DWP say they are looking at 326,000 cases where they may have got the law wrong. However, they are moving extremely slowly and there may be many more cases which they have failed to identify.
But some of our members have had their awards looked at and found to be eligible for a lump sum payment:
“Had a call on Tuesday this week (5th) from a decision maker, she ran through a few questions with me, like how I prepared if I am going to go out and who I use as my support when I do that etc. She told me there and then that she was going to back date my claim to 2016 and increase it from standard to enhanced. I have just had just under £5K paid into my account today.”
Midnight
“Got a phone call I’ve been awarded almost 10,000. This is from 2017 to 2023. I was moved over to ADP last year. My payment has gone up to enhanced also from standard.”
Brenda
“My partner received a missed call Tuesday, text received stating they will call back Wednesday morning. It sent him in a whirlwind thinking they were going to stop his entitlement. The lady called as previously stated, spoke about the situation in hand and advised he would be receiving a payment in the coming days for almost £12,000. It has definitely come as a shock to say the least. I can confirm we hadn't made any contact with PIP (Dwp) in regards of this, they just contacted us.”
Shell-shocked
“Got my letter today £5771.35 owed”
Jane
Other readers have left comments highlighting how slow the process is and how hard it is to get any kind of response from the DWP.
“i sent of a letter a month ago signed for heard nothing so i phoned them and they agreed they had it but no one had looked at it ? so i asked what now and he said someone will look at it and i said when he said i dont know??”
Val
However, we do know that Midnight above, originally contacted the DWP in October last year asking for them to look at his case and finally had a text from the DWP in December saying they would deal with it by 11 February 2024.
In fact, it wasn’t until 5 March that Midnight got a call from a decision maker who asked a few questions and then made an immediate decision over the phone about back pay and an increase in their current award.
So, awards are being given to some people who contact the DWP, as well as those who just wait and are contacted out of the blue.
According to the DWP more than one five claimants who have been reviewed have received an award.
We suspect that the rules are being applied as restrictively as the DWP can possibly manage. Nonetheless, if you think you are entitled to back pay then the situation is far from hopeless, whether you choose to contact the DWP or wait and hope that you will hear from them.
Benefits and Work members can download the following resources from the PIP guides page.
Engaging with other people review guide
A six page guide to who may be affected by the review and what to do if you think you are.
Sample letters
Sample letters for people who think they may be affected by the DWP's error in assessing people who have difficulties engaging with other people.
Video explainer
A 7 minute video explaining who may be affected by the review and what to do if you think you are.
Video transcript
A transcript of the video.
DWP Memo
A 5 page memo issued by the DWP on the subject of the changes to the law.
