People receiving Personal Independence Payments are to have their cases reviewed following a Government u-turn – with up to 220,000 claimants expected to have their awards improved.
This decision comes after the Department Of Work And Pensions decided not to appeal against a High court ruling that said changes to PIP were unfair to people with mental health conditions. The review could cost £3.7bn by 2023.
Ministers made changes to PIP in 2017 which limited the amount of support people with mental health conditions could receive. As a result, people who were unable to travel independently on the grounds of psychological distress – as opposed to other conditions – were not entitled to the enhanced mobility rate of the benefit.
At the end of last year a High Court judge ruled that the alterations “blatantly discriminate” against people with psychiatric problems and were a breach of their human rights. The new Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey recently announced that the Government would not appeal against the judgement, despite not agreeing with certain aspects of it.
The Department for Work and Pensions will now undertake an exercise to go through all affected cases in receipt of PIP and all decisions made following the judgment to identify anyone who may be entitled to more as a result of the judgment.
The u-turn has been welcomed by several campaigning organisations and charities including Disability Rights UK .
18 Feb 2018 22:58:13
I tried to get PIP in 2016 and 2017 and both times failed with 0 points i suffer anxiety depression and have the support group of esa as to my circumstances. Will my claims be reviewed and how can i find out?
25 Jul 2018 11:38:19
I found this article really helpful to navigate the changes to PIP.
https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/top-tips-advice/what-the-2018-pip-ruling-means-for-those-living-with-mental-health-issues/