The time taken for a PIP mandatory reconsideration decision has more than doubled. It now takes an average of 69 days, up from 32 days a year ago.
The extraordinary length of time taken for a PIP mandatory reconsideration is in stark contrast to ESA, where the time taken has dropped to just 8 days.
Since PIP was introduced, just 15% of PIP mandatory reconsiderations about an initial decision have resulted in a change in the award.
However, in the latest quarter for which figures are available, January to March 2019, this figure had risen to 22% of awards changed.
It is too soon to say whether this is a permanent improvement in success rates or merely a blip. But in ether case it still leaves success rates for mandatory reconsiderations far below appeal success rates.
The DWP have also released experimental figures tracking success rates through all stages of a challenge to a PIP decision.
Of all those claimants who completed a mandatory reconsideration, 41% then went on to lodge an appeal.
The DWP then changed its decision in the claimants favour in 8% of appeals before they went to tribunal, resulting in the appeal not going ahead.
Of those decisions that actually went to an appeal tribunal, 66% were won by the claimant.
In total, 9% of all PIP initial decisions after an assessment have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at a tribunal hearing.
