Half of disability benefit claims are rejected in Glasgow

Just over half of disability-benefit claims in Glasgow have been rejected this year, according to government figures.

The most recent statistics released by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) show 7,199 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims were decided last July.

In Glasgow, 50.3% of claims were rejected, and 45.5% for the whole of Scotland, which is up from 44.8% the previous year.

PIP is a benefit introduced in June 2013 by the then Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government via the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations Act 2013, which set up PIP as a replacement for Disability Living Allowance (DSA) to help reduce government spending.

The benefit is to help cover extra costs of long-term health conditions and disabilities of people over 16 years of age. In order to claim, you must require assistance for everyday tasks such as dressing, eating and shopping.

DWP says a majority of applicants were rejected as they did not meet the necessary requirements needed at their assessment. 263 claims were rejected for claimants not attending their assessment and 876 rejections for not submitting their application on time. A further 24 were also rejected for unknown reasons.

The application process requires answering a questionnaire and submitting evidence, which includes a face to face assessment by DWP. The assessment has attracted heavy criticism from disability campaigners for it being complicated for claimants.

Additional DWP figures show 9,400 complaints were made to assessment providers relating to the assessments in 2018.