The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that tens of thousands of people lost their disability benefit because of issues over returning their review forms. Up to 42,000 claimants had their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award stopped in 2021, an increase of almost 300% in just two years.
25,400 claims were disallowed in 2020. The figures were revealed by Tom Pursglove, DWP minister for disabled people, in response to a written parliamentary question.
The figures refer to people who allegedly failed to return their AR1 PIP review form but it is not known whether non-return includes forms that were returned late. It is also not clear how many people challenged the decision that they had failed to return their form on time, The Chronicle reports.
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Mr Pursglove's response shows that the number of claims disallowed each year for non-return of the AR1 review form have increased steadily year on year since 2017, when there were 7,500 claims disallowed. Benefits rights website Benefits and Work said it was concerned that the number of claimants allegedly failing to return their forms seemed to be increasing at an extraordinary rate.
A spokesperson said: "At Benefits and Work our concern is that the number of claimants allegedly failing to return their forms seems to be far outstripping any rises in awards that had taken place at the time. We know that the DWP’s post handling and call management is dire and getting ever worse.
"It seems very possible that many disallowed claimants are returning their forms on time, but the DWP is either losing them or taking far too long before recording that they have been received. We have no way of knowing how many of the 42,000 claimants appealed or how many simply gave up in despair, even though they knew they had returned their form on time.
"Other claimants may have failed to return the review form because of the effects of a physical or mental health condition."
A DWP spokesperson said: “We support millions of people every year and our priority is they get the benefits to which they are entitled to as soon as possible, and to ensure they receive a supportive and compassionate service. For anyone with a disability or long-term health condition, there is a strong financial safety net, including Statutory Sick Pay, Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.
"Only a small proportion of PIP claims are disallowed for non-return of the AR1 form and safeguards are in place to prevent vulnerable claimants’ claims falling out of payment.”
According to Pursglove, claimants with serious mental health or cognitive conditions who have difficulty communicating or engaging with the process, have their files ‘watermarked’ as Additional Support (AS), although they are not classed as vulnerable. These claimants will be asked to attend a PIP assessment even if they fail to return their form.
Figures published by the DWP show that the total number of current PIP recipients with an AS marker is 422,200. Claimants who are identified or deemed as vulnerable, are annotated with an Additional Customer Support (ACS) marker which is applied as a ‘watermark’ on their PIP record.
This group will include those who may be vulnerable due to their circumstances, not just their condition. Whilst some claimants will fit into both categories, and have both markers applied, claimants in this category would also be afforded additional sensitivity and protection at all stages of their claim, not just at the point of disallowance for failing to return a claim form.
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