A change to the assessment rules could see existing PIP claimants receive extra money and a backdated lump sum. Hundreds of thousands of people receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP) may be due arrears going back as far as April 2016, following a change to the assessment rules for the Daily Living component, specifically on the definition of ‘social support’. New figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that 325,867 reviews have still to be conducted for claimants who may have been affected and been underpaid the disability benefit.
In July 2019, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment following an Upper Tribunal (UT) decision which changed the way the DWP considers the definition of ‘social support’ for Daily Living activity number nine. The ‘MM’ judgment concerns the definition of ‘social support’ when engaging with other people face to face and when ‘prompting’ should be considered ‘social support’ in the PIP assessment, and how far in advance social support can be provided. The DWP estimates that it will review 632,286 PIP cases during the course of the corrections exercise this year and by March 31 had already looked at 219,080 awards, paying out a total of £142 million in arrears payments.
DWP said it will contact 279,903 claimants who may have been affected by the assessment rule change, however, anyone who thinks they may have been affected can also contact the DWP and ask them to look again at their claim..