Benefits group says new review may be ‘designed’ to cause people to reduce or lose their benefit payments
The Department for Work and Pensions is reviewing Personal Independence Payments
DWP claimants have been warned that a new review could cause them to lose their Personal Independent Payments (PIP) or see those payments reduced. The warning comes from an advocacy forum Benefits and Work.
The benefits information provider issued the warning after the Department of Work and Pensions began a review last November on Personal Independence Payments. This involves a PIP Award Review of AR1 form being sent to existing claimants prior to their award ending to make sure they are still getting the correct rate.
But according to Benefits and Work, the review ‘seems designed to encourage claimants to give as little evidence as possible and thus risk losing or reducing their award.’ They suggest that while the original PIP review form focussed solely on changes to people’s needs, the new form does not ask if people’s conditions have changed regarding most activities.
On its website, Benefits and Work states: “We have always advised members to give the same level of detailed and up-to-date evidence in a review form as they did in their original claim and not rely on simply saying “No change”. So, from that point of view, the new AR1 form fits better with our approach to giving evidence.
However, the PIP2 form gives you a whole A4 page to describe your needs, as well as a page on which there is a more detailed explanation of what is taken into account and a sample answer. The new AR1 PIP review form, on the other hand provides no examples and only tiny boxes in which to provide evidence.
“It is by no means certain that, just because you currently have an award of PIP and your condition is unchanged – or has even deteriorated – that you will still get at least the same award. Many readers have had to go to tribunal to get their award reinstated after losing it on review.”
The group advised claimants “never to be restricted by the boxes on a PIP review form, but instead, use as many additional sheets as is necessary to give detailed evidence about your needs.”