The number of outstanding social security appeals has rocketed compared with the same time last year, the quarterly tribunal statistical report has revealed. The majority of appeals continue to be won by claimants, whilst mandatory reconsiderations overwhelmingly uphold the DWP’s decision.
There were a total of 103,800 claimants waiting to have their appeals heard at the end of June 2017, an increase of 88% on June of last year.
The vast majority of cases that were heard in this quarter concerned PIP (46%) and ESA (38%), with DLA making up just 3% of the total.
85% of the cases that were completed went to a tribunal and claimants won 63% of these hearings. This was up from 58% for the same period in June.
Breaking hearings down by benefit, the success rates for claimants were:
- ESA 68%
- PIP 65%
- DLA 55%
- JSA 49%
This contrasts hugely with the mandatory reconsideration success rate for PIP claimants. Just 15% of new PIP claimants and 21% of DLA to PIP claimants had their award increased as a result of a mandatory reconsideration, proving once again the importance of taking challenges all the way to a tribunal.
You can download the latest quarterly tribunal statistics from this link.
