People claiming Personal In Independence Payments (PIP) should be paid if they are kept waiting too long for an assessment, a group of MPs has said.
The suggestion was one of a number put forward by MPs on the Commons Work and Pensions Committee in a report into the benefits system assessments process. The committee called for time limits be given to assessment providers with penalties for failing to meet them, and said once the deadline has passed, claimants should be paid an 'assessment rate' until their claim is decided. Where a claim is successful, the payments would be deducted from the back pay but where a claim was not allowed, no repayment would need to be made.
The report - ‘Health assessments for benefits’ - concluded that the health assessments system to access benefits for those who cannot work or face extra costs due to disability or ill-health continues to let down those who rely on it, and called for sweeping changes, including:
Read more: Month-by-month guide to when you can expect all of this year's cost of living payments
- Claimants should be able to choose whether to have a face-to-face, telephone or video assessment.
- All assessments should be recorded, with claimants being able to opt out if they choose.
- The deadline for returning assessment forms should be extended to two months.
- More weight should be given to evidence provided by carers and family members in relation.
- Young people receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) should not need to claim PIP until they are 18.
- The DWP should publish data every year on instances of death or serious harm associated with health assessments and set out what steps it has taken to prevent them happening again.
Committee chair Sir Stephen Timms MP said: "All efforts must be made for unnecessary limbo and stress for claimants to be put to an end. We surveyed eight and a half thousand people as part of our inquiry and found a profound lack of trust in the system as a consistent theme. Many will welcome abolition of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The Government’s process improvements, and recognition that the system causes undue stress and hardship, are steps in the right direction."
The report summary said: "Our predecessor committee found in its 2018 inquiry that there were significant problems with these assessments. We found many of these remain, despite some improvements. Important changes to improve trust and transparency have not been made, and the system continues to let down some of the often vulnerable people who rely on it. The Government has announced major reforms in its Health and Disability White Paper, including abolishing the WCA. However, this will take several years to implement, and assessments for PIP are expected to continue.
"We were deeply concerned that nearly five years after our predecessor’s report, people are still experiencing psychological distress as a result of undergoing health assessments. In some cases, issues or errors in the system are associated with or have been found at Coroner’s Inquest to have contributed to the deaths of claimants.
"The data on MRs and appeals show there is still a fundamental problem with decision-making. The Department’s decisions were overturned in 69% of Tribunal rulings for PIP in the quarter ending December 2022, despite the operational changes it has introduced at earlier stages.
"We recommend clearance-time targets be included in new contracts with assessment providers, and an assessment rate for PIP be introduced where claimants are waiting beyond these times."
A DWP spokesperson said it regularly undertook surveys of claimants using its services, and the DWP Customer Experience survey showed that 82% of customers were either “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied” with the overall service they received. He said the department would take the necessary time to fully consider the committee’s report and its findings.
"This Government is committed to ensuring people can access financial support in a timely and supportive manner and therefore reducing processing times and further improving the claimant experience are key priorities for the DWP," he said. “The proposals set out in our recent Health and Disability White Paper will make it easier for people to access the right support and improve trust and transparency in our decisions and processes.”
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Houghton-le-Spring woman Charlotte Allen has previously slammed the DWP for the length of time it took to access her claim for PIP and has called on the Government to change the way it assesses people who are living with degenerative diseases.
Charlotte, 55, who has suffered from Parkinson's for 18 years says the current system is destroying people's lives. She said she felt "bullied and harassed" after the DWP revoked some of her benefits, resulting in a nine-year battle to get them reinstated.
"The attitude of some people working for organisations who are meant to help us is truly unbelievable," she said. "Parkinson’s will only ever progress and it’s so debilitating as well, there is no cure. I was exhausted, frustrated, and my anxiety levels hit an all-time high. The DWP and their current processes are destroying families." The DWP apologised to Charlotte and awarded her the correct benefits when it was contacted by ChronicleLive.
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