Personal Independence Payment

(asked on 15th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer on 8 September 2020 to Question 81701 on Personal Independence Payment, how many of the 18,290 people who registered a claim for personal independence payment since April 2018 and who died within six months of making a claim and who had their application rejected under Normal Rules subsequently reapplied for that benefit under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness process.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 24th September 2020

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is claimed by people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, many of which are degenerative or life limiting and the Department treats the death of any claimant sympathetically.

New Claims made under Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI) are fast tracked and were being cleared in 4 working days on average in April 2020. This is compared to an average of 16 weeks for New Claims cleared under Normal Rules in April 2020, down by 62% from their peak of 42 weeks in July 2014.

The cause of death of claimants to PIP is not collated centrally by the Department. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim:

  • There were 2,140 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under either Normal Rules or Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
  • There were 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules.
  • Of these 1,860 claimants, there were 30 claimants who registered a subsequent claim for PIP under Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.

Table 1 below shows a breakdown of the 1,860 claimants who had their claim disallowed at initial decision under Normal Rules by main disabling category:

Table 1: Breakdown by Disability Category of claimants who died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim from April 2018 – October 2019 and who had their claim disallowed under Normal Rules

Disability Category

Number of claimants

Autoimmune disease (connective tissue disorders)

-

Cardiovascular disease

30

Diseases of the liver, gallbladder, biliary tract

10

Endocrine disease

10

Gastrointestinal disease

10

Genitourinary disease

10

Haematological Disease

-

Hearing disorders

10

Infectious disease

-

Malignant disease

50

Musculoskeletal disease (general)

30

Musculoskeletal disease (regional)

20

Neurological disease

30

Psychiatric disorders

100

Respiratory disease

30

Skin disease

-

Unknown or missing

1,540

Visual disease

-

Total (ALL)

1,860

Notes

Sources: PIP ADS, Customer Information System

  • PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
  • Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
  • The primary disabling condition does not get recorded until a claimant has attended an assessment. This means that claimants who are disallowed without attending an assessment (e.g. for failing to attend an assessment or for disallowances pre-referral to the Assessment Provider) do not have a disability recorded and are recorded in Table 1 as “Unknown or Missing”.
  • The outcome is the first DWP decision recorded on the PIP Computer system. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP. Some cases do not have a decision recorded.
  • The latest PIP Official Statistics, including data to 31st July 2020, were published on 15th September 2020. We have provided figures here as at 30th April 2020 for consistency with the original answer to PQ 81701.
  • This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
  • Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
  • Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
  • Components may not sum to the total due to rounding.
  • Figures cover PIP claims registered from April 2018 – October 2019, initial decisions made from April 2018 – April 2020, and deaths from April 2018 up to 30th April 2020 as recorded at 31st August 2020. Data may be subject to retrospection.
  • GB Only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Of the 18,290 people who registered a claim to PIP between April 2018 and October 2019 and had died within 6 months of registering a PIP claim, there were 280 claimants who had their claim disallowed following a PIP assessment under Normal Rules up to March 2020. This does not include disallowance decisions made prior to an assessment being completed.

Appeals information for these 280 claimants show that there were 0 Appeals where the DWP decision was overturned or upheld and there were fewer than 5 appeals withdrawn/struck out or lapsed.

Due to small numbers, figures on appeal outcomes by primary disabling condition are not shown.

Notes

  • These figures cover PIP claims registered between April 2018 and October 2019, disallowance decisions following a PIP assessment up to March 2020 and appeals to June 2020.
  • Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Fields with fewer than 5 cases are replaced by a “-“.
  • This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
  • GB Only.
  • 'Appeals - withdrawn/struck out' - includes where an appeal is brought to an end, or cleared, without a determination on the issue in dispute. Struck out appeal is where the proceedings have been brought to an end by the Tribunal Judge.
  • Definition of 'Appeals - lapsed' - where DWP changed the decision (in the customer’s favour) after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
  • Definition of 'Appeals - overturned' - where the DWP decision is revised in favour of the customer at a tribunal hearing.
  • Definition of 'Appeals - upheld' - where the DWP decision is upheld at a tribunal hearing.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

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