The latest personal independence payment (PIP) statistics reveal that just over half of all new claimants get an award and just over three quarters of all disability living allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessments result in an award.
Claim success rates
The current figures run from April 2013 to January 2015. They show that:
51% of all new claims that were not withdrawn or for terminally ill claimants were successful
77% of all DLA to PIP decisions that were not for terminally ill claimants were successful.
Award rates
Of those who got an award:
28% got the enhanced rate of both the daily living and mobility components
59% got both the daily living and mobility components, with 28% getting the enhanced rate of both.
32% got daily living only.
9% got mobility only.
Health conditions
The most common condition leading to an award of PIP is a ‘psychiatric disorder’, a category that includes anxiety and depression. 31% of claimants received an award on these grounds.
The next most common condition is muculoskeletal disease (general), which includes osteoarthritis. 18% of claimants received an award on these grounds.
Waiting times
The DWP say that claims for PIP now take an average of 20 weeks from when a claim is registered to when a decision is made.
The average wait for a face-to-face medical assessment is claimed to be 12 weeks.
Backlog
At the end of January 2015 there had been 794,800 claims and reassessments lodged and 607,700 of these had been cleared.
This leaves a backlog of 187,100.
However, in January 2015 51,900 claims were lodged, but 81,500 were cleared, an excess of 29,600.
This suggests that the backlog of PIP claims will be largely dealt with by the summer.
