DWP figures reveal a large increase in the number of PIP clearances

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed the latest Personal Independent Payment (PIP) statistics for up to the end of October 2018.

PIP is a fund that is granted to help people cover the extra costs associated with a long-term disability, ill-health or terminal ill-health. PIP started to replace the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) from the 8th of April 2013.

The Government’s latest figures reveal insights into clearance times, PIP registrations and DLA reassessment claims.

From the PIP’s introduction in April 2013, 3.8 million PIP claims have been cleared. Since the last quarter (July 2018), there have been 184,000 more registrations and almost 220,000 more clearances.

PIP had been criticised for having stricter criteria compared to DLA, with a large number of individuals being unfairly assessed and losing the benefit. However, these latest figures highlight an increase in the number of clearances, showing a step in the right direction towards helping people with disabilities or ill-health to manage in their everyday lives.

DWP also highlights that the average clearance time for new claims is nine weeks under normal rules and six working days for terminally ill people. However, the new figures show that clearance times have been slower in October 2018 compared to October 2017.

By the end of October 2018, there had been over four million PIP claims registered. Of these, three percent were terminally ill people and almost 40 percent were reassessed DLA claims.

From normal rule claims, one quarter of people received the highest level of the PIP award.

Figures also show that by the end of October 2018, nearly 2 million people had a PIP claim in payment, a six percent increase from the statistics revealed July 2018.

Overall, 75 percent of DLA reassessment claims received a PIP award. From this, 39 percent of those registered received an increase in the level of benefit. However, nearly half of those registered (47 percent) received a lower level or no award.