What are your chances of PIP review success?
Probably the first thing most people want to know about their PIP review is “What are the chances that I’m going to lose out?”
According to the DWP, PIP review success rates are:
- Award Increased 19%
- Award stays the same 51%
- Award Decreased 9%
- Award Disallowed 21%
However, these overall averages mask huge variations according to the level of your award before the review.
For example, only 12% of claimants who get the standard daily living with the enhanced mobility component of PIP lose their award on review. Three times as many - 36% - of claimants who get only standard mobility component will have their award ended.
So the DWP headline figure of 21% is highly misleading.
We have compiled statistics for the review success and failure rates of every level and combination of PIP award.
Who gets a pip review and when?
Whether and when you get a review depends on the length of your award
Fixed term with no review – less than 2 years.
Fixed term with review – 2 years and over. The DWP will decide on the date when your award will be reviewed.
Ongoing award – no end date but a light-touch review after 10 years.
Fixed term, no review
If your PIP award is due to end at 2 years or less, it won’t normally be reviewed. Instead, the DWP usually write to you roughly 3 months before the end date of your award, reminding you to make a new claim.
You should make a new claim before your PIP award ends, as it can take a considerable time to decide on your claim. You can do this up to 6 months before your award ends.
Fixed term with review
For fixed term awards over 2 years, you will be sent the AR1 review form to complete up to a year before your current award ends.
Your original award letter may tell you the likely review date, saying something like: “We will also contact you while you’re getting PIP to see if your needs have changed and to look at the amount you get. This will be after 22 June 2024.” for example.
You may also be sent review forms earlier than this, especially if your award is for 5 or 10 years, to check that your entitlement has not changed.
If you don’t return the AR1 form, your claim will end so it’s important to return it in time.
Ongoing award with light touch review
The DWP can decide on an ongoing award with a ‘light touch’ review after 10 years using an AR2 form -
where they consider there is unlikely to be a change in your condition
where you have a condition which is not likely to substantially change in the long-term
where you get an enhanced-rate daily living and enhanced-rate mobility award, and where your needs are only likely to increase, such as with serious or progressive conditions
In addition, if you have a planned review date that will be due after you reach State Pension age, you may also get just a light touch review.
PIP review backlogs
There is a large backlog of reviews due to a shortage of PIP assessors and an increase in new claims.
So, instead of getting a review, you may receive a letter telling you that your award has been extended for 12 months. Some claimants have had their award extended more than once.
However, in late 2023 the DWP began to increase the number of reviews being carried out with 110,000 cleared in October 2023, an increase of 68% compared to the previous year.
But even if you are sent a review form, there may be a wait of many months after you return it before you are given an assessment date or a decision.
THE SIX POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF A PIP REVIEW
There are six possible outcomes for a PIP review. We go through them all below and you can discover the percentage for each for your particular award here.
1 PIP disallowed – pre-assessment
This is the percentage of claims that end prior to an assessment. This is likely to be mainly claimants who the DWP say did not return their review forms within the deadline.
A minimum of 8% of claimants are judged by the DWP to have failed pre-assessment, including even claimants with enhanced awards of both components, who obviously have the most to lose if they don’t get their forms back in time.
But claimants with a single component seem to be most at risk, with 14% of those on enhanced or standard mobility only losing their award before even being assessed.
2 PIP Disallowed - Failed to Attend
This is the percentage of claimants who the DWP say did not attend their review assessment.
The percentages here are low across the board, ranging from below 1% to a maximum of 3%.
3 No Award - Failed Assessment
This is the percentage of claimants who attended their assessments but got no award as a result.
This ranges from as high as 20% for claimants on standard mobility only to 4% for claimants with an award of standard daily living combined with enhanced mobility.
4 Award stays the same
There are just two combinations of awards where the majority of awards are unchanged on review.
67% of claimants with enhanced rates for both components see no change
57% of claimants with standard daily living and enhanced mobility remain the same.
At the other end of the scale, just 30% of standard mobility only claims stay the same and 34% of enhanced daily living only.
5 Award increases
Lower awards generally have a higher probability of increasing than ones that are already near the top.
The highest percentage of increases happens for claimants of standard mobility only awards, where 34% see an increase.
Next highest is standard daily living at 25%.
Enhanced mobility only, sees 24% of recipients getting a higher increase whilst enhanced daily living sees 20%.
But other levels of award, with the obvious exception of enhanced for both components, also see at least 17% get an increase.
6 Awards decreases
Clearly, the lowest two awards can’t get any lower, they can only end entirely.
Of the rest, awards of enhanced mobility only are the least likely to be reduced, with just 2% going down.
Enhanced daily living, whether on its or with any award of mobility, is reduced for 18%-19% of claims.
The lessons to be learnt
Probably the most important lesson is that, even if your condition is unchanged or deteriorated, take the review process very seriously indeed. Just ticking the unchanged boxes and providing no detailed evidence or up-to-date examples is a risky strategy.
A lot of awards seem to be lost even before assessment, so ensure that you have evidence that you returned your form in time.
Be aware that assessments do result in many lost awards, especially if you only have one component.
But also be aware that a significant percentage of awards do increase on review.
So, if your needs have increased, or you did not get the correct award last time a decision was made, this is your opportunity to try to make sure the DWP get it right this time.