Disabled Benefit Claimants Wait Years for Payments They're Owed

A single mother named Varia spent more than two years fighting the UK government just to receive a disability payment she was owed. Varia, who is 46, has serious knee problems caused by an accident when she was 25. She has had five operations and uses crutches every day to get around. She also knows she will one day need a full knee replacement with metal implants.

Varia applied for a benefit called Personal Independence Payment, or PIP. PIP is money the government gives to help disabled people cover the extra costs of their condition. Even though Varia's situation is serious, the Department for Work and Pensions — known as the DWP — said she did not qualify for any level of PIP. This came as a shock, because she clearly struggles with everyday life.

Varia asked the DWP to review its own decision. This review is called a mandatory reconsideration, and it rarely changes the outcome — only 14 percent of reviews go in the claimant's favour. Varia's did not change, so she took her case to a tribunal, which is like a special court where an independent judge looks at the facts. Waiting for her tribunal hearing alone took eight months.

While she waited, the DWP offered her a standard level of PIP. A charity called Z2K advised her to accept the money but keep fighting for the higher enhanced rate. Varia agreed to this plan because she needed money right away to care for her child. She said it was a hard decision, but she needed at least something she could rely on.

After 18 more months, a tribunal judge ruled in Varia's favour using the exact same evidence the DWP had already seen. Her total wait from first applying to getting the right decision was over two years. Because the payment was backdated to her original application date, she received £7,692 in one go. She said she could not have made it through without specialist help from people around her.