Pip claimants paid more than £600,000 after DWP admits error

Pip claimants paid more than £600,000 after DWP admits error Payments worth an average £2,100 were paid out after incorrect advice was given - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Over £660,000 has been paid to hundreds of Personal Independence Payment (Pip) claimants by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after it admitted giving incorrect advice to people looking to claim the benefit. According to new information published by the department, around 310 payments worth an average £2,100 per person have been handed out to individuals who were wrongly turned away or awarded their benefits from the wrong date. This was due to staff wrongly telling many claimants that they could not claim the benefit if they did not possess a National Insurance number, meaning they were unable to claim the Pip they were entitled to. From 2013, the DWP has been migrating claimants of a previous disability benefit to Pip. This means that many of those affected were forced to move on to Pip before being wrongly told they were ineligible for it. However, Pip applicants without a National Insurance number are able to begin their claim for the benefit at the same time as applying for a number, so they don’t miss out. In its update, the DWP said: “The Department has a duty to restore legal entitlements. Where the Department becomes aware that these have been denied, an administrative exercise is required.” “[It] has contacted all those it has identified as potentially impacted and the cases available have been reviewed. Although we have completed the exercise, claimants can still ask the Department to conduct a review of their case, if they think they are affected. “ A DWP spokesperson said: “We've taken proactive action to ensure fairness for claimants who were impacted by incorrect benefits advice and have a legal entitlement to PIP.” First introduced in April 2013 to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working-age claimants, Pip is a non-means-tested benefit designed to offset the additional costs that arise from having a health condition or disability. The DWP’s latest update comes as Pip faces intense scrutiny, with the benefit currently subject to a review by social security minister Stephen Timms which is set to report in the autumn. Interim findings from the work earlier this year found it is “not fit for purpose,” indicating plans to make major changes. His work was announced last year after over 100 Labour MPs threatened to rebel against the government over plans to change the Pip criteria to make it effectively harder to claim, slashing £3bn from the welfare bill. Official data released in September showed that the number of people claiming the benefit hit a record high of 4.1 million as of July. Prime minister Andy Burnham has said he is committed to future welfare reform, but his official spokesperson clarified on Tuesday that this “doesn't mean crude cuts that simply push people into crisis and create bigger costs elsewhere.” “Our work on welfare across the board is about tackling the structural drivers and changing the nature of the support so that we ultimately deliver a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure,” they added. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments