Figures produced by the DWP show that, at present rates, it will take almost ten years to work through the backlog of outstanding personal independence payment (PIP) planned award reviews. This means that over 74,000 claimants are likely to be getting a lower award than they are entitled to.
A Freedom of Information request by a Benefits and Work member asked the DWP to provide the outstanding number of PIP reviews, the cause of the backlog and how long it would take to clear.
The DWP responded that “As of 31st May 2024, there were 392,000 Award Reviews outstanding in England and Wales.”
The department said there was no timeline for clearing the backlog and that:
“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 claimed that it is recruiting additional case managers and that assessment providers are “taking steps to increase the number of Healthcare Professionals they employ”. However, they also stressed that “it takes time to train and consolidate new entrants”.
However, the latest quarterly PIP statistics published earlier this month, show that in the last quarter the DWP only managed to reduce the backlog of outstanding award reviews by 10,000. The figures show that 120,000 new award reviews were registered and 130,000 were cleared.
So at the current rate it would take just short of 10 years to work through the entire backlog.
And, in fact, the most recent quarter was the only one in the last year that the backlog was actually reduced. In preceding quarters it either went up or remained the same.
Given that the number of PIP new claims is continuing to rise month on month, with the last quarter seeing a record breaking quarter of a million new claims, it is doubtful whether new recruits will be able to do much to cut the review backlog.
Also according to DWP statistics the outcome of planned award reviews over the last five years has been:
- Increased 19%
- Maintained 54%
- Decreased 7%
- Disallowed 20%
On this basis, the backlog includes:
- 74,480 claimants getting a lower award of PIP than they are entitled to
- 27,440 claimants getting a higher award than they are entitled to
- 78,400 claimants who are no longer entitled to PIP, in the view of the DWP.
It is hard to see how this situation can be resolved in the near future. In the meantime, tens of thousands of claimants will continue to receive yet another annual communication from the DWP telling them that their review has not yet taken place and that their current award will remain in payment.
We'd be interested to hear from readers how long you have been waiting for your planned PIP award review.
