The Department for Work and Pensions could owe many benefit claimants thousands of pounds each after a recent rule change.
Personal Independence Payments PIP can help with extra living costs if you have a long term physical or mental health condition or disability and difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of your condition. There has been a recent change to the Daily Living component assessment rules around the definition of “social support”.
Last month, the DWP called for around 284,000 existing claimants to contact them, to see if they think they may have been affected. It comes after the Supreme Court handed down a judgment following an Upper Tribunal decision, known as the “MM” judgment, in July 2019.
Some 14,000 arrears payments, totalling around £74 million have been made. It’s important to be aware how much someone receives may be higher or lower for each individual case, but on average, that works out at around £5,285 per PIP claim.
Who may be affected by the assessment rule change
The judgment can only affect a claimant’s assessment for the Daily Living part of the PIP assessment. The DWP is reviewing cases where additional points for Activity 9 ‘prompting’ or ‘social support’ may make a material difference to the amount of PIP claimants’ are entitled to.
- People who may have missed out on the Daily Living component element of PIP, or were awarded the standard rate and may be entitled to the enhanced rate include:
- People who have regular meetings with a mental health professional, without which they would not be able to manage face to face encounters.
- People who need the input of particular friends or relatives with experience of supporting them in social situations -rather than just any well-meaning friend or relative -to help them manage face to face encounters.
Claims DWP will not review
The DWP is not reviewing claims if:
- The enhanced rate of the daily living part of PIP has been awarded continuously since April 6, 2016
- A Tribunal made a decision on a claim since April 6, 2016
- A decision not to award PIP was made before April 6, 2016
How to make a claim
Claimants who wish to dispute a decision on the review of their PIP claim under the MM judgment can ask DWP to reconsider the decision -this is called a Mandatory Reconsideration MR and must be completed before an appeal is made and lodged with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service HMCTS.
Full details about challenging your PIP and other benefit decisions can be found on GOV.UK.
