Disabled people with lifelong conditions facing ‘unnecessary’ Pip reassessments

Steve Mikellides. People with lifelong conditions are being put through repeated “wasteful” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Steve Mikellides. People with lifelong conditions are being put through repeated “wasteful” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian Disabled people with lifelong conditions facing ‘unnecessary’ Pip reassessments ‘Pointless’ reviews are wasting public money and ‘significantly harming’ the mental health of claimants, charity says Disabled people with lifelong conditions are repeatedly being put through “pointless” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance, new analysis suggests. A study by the anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are going through “unnecessary” personal independence payment (Pip) reviews, “wasting” public money and “significantly harming” the mental and physical health of claimants. Figures show 73% of people with learning disabilities, 86% of those who had an amputation, and 62% of claimants with cerebral palsy were given fixed-term awards – meaning they are required to undergo reassessments every three years. This also applied to 89% of claimants with multiple sclerosis and 61% with Parkinson’s – conditions with little to no prospect of significant improvement. Samuel Thomas, senior policy adviser at Z2K, said: “Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance says disabled people with lifelong and progressive conditions should not be reassessed more than once a decade – but the data shows these rules simply aren’t being followed. “Shockingly high proportions of disabled people qualifying on the basis of lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy, permanent hearing loss and amputated limbs are being forced to undergo pointless reassessments, even though their disabilities will not change.” Almost 75% of planned award reviews last year – equivalent to more than 500,000 reassessments – resulted in no change to the person’s payments, Z2K found. This included many cases involving claimants already receiving the highest level of support, who were reassessed even though their health is unlikely to improve. Of reviews that led to payments being changed, 10% were increased, while 16% were decreased or stopped. After Pip was introduced by the coalition government in 2013 and lifetime awards were abolished, ongoing “light touch” awards – which mean a case is only reviewed every 10 years and typically without a face-to-face interview – were said to be reserved for people whose conditions are unlikely to change. But the Z2K study found ongoing awards are very rare, accounting for just 6.9% of new claims in 2025. The default length of a fixed award – which the vast majority of disabled people are given – changed from two to three years for new Pip claimants last week. It is hoped the move will reduce costs and lengthy backlogs