Disabled people with lifelong conditions facing ‘unnecessary’ Pip reassessments
Summary
A study shows many disabled people with lifelong conditions are being made to go through repeated benefit reassessments even though their conditions do not improve. This practice wastes public money and negatively affects the health of claimants. Recent changes extended reassessment periods but do not stop unnecessary reviews.Key Facts
- Hundreds of thousands of disabled people with lifelong conditions face repeated Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reviews.
- 73% of people with learning disabilities and 86% of amputees were given fixed-term awards requiring reassessment every three years.
- Conditions like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, which usually do not get better, still often lead to fixed-term awards.
- Almost 75% of reassessments last year did not change payment amounts for claimants.
- Only 6.9% of new claims in 2025 received lifetime or long-term awards, which are supposed to reduce reassessments.
- The time between reassessments for new claimants changed from two to three years recently.
- The Department for Work and Pensions spends over £350 million annually on PIP assessments done by private companies.
- The reassessment process can take about 38 weeks on average and often involves reviewing claimants from the beginning instead of focusing on changes in their condition.
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