7 Effect of claiming
7.2 Effect of the claim decision
7.2.1
Effect on claimants awarded PIP
As explained in Chapter 1 awards of PIP vary from a minimum of £21 a week (for the standard rate mobility component only) to £134 a week (for the enhanced rates of both the mobility and daily living components). In the sample of claimants interviewed this full range of awards was represented.
The responses of most of those receiving awards were very positive. People, particularly
those whose principal source of income was social security beneits, talked about the additional money having signiicant effects on their lives in a variety of ways, including inancial, social and on their mental health.
The sorts of expenditure that people said PIP had allowed them to make included: • additional, or different, food (including more healthy options, such as fruit and nuts); • transport (including to work and for leisure);
• heating;
• gifts for children.
As one claimant explained:
‘It’s made life a lot easier … it’s given me a bit of freedom to try and get my life back together … whilst also allowing me the … time … and a bit of inancial freedom to get
help … both through the NHS and through private means.’
(Female, 25-39, awarded PIP)
For some their PIP money was absorbed into the family budget – ‘it means I can eat a bit better and the heating can go on’ – but a small number of people talked about their award
enabling them to do speciic things that they hoped would increase their chances of inding
work. These included training courses, further education and paying for driving lessons. A number of claimants said that PIP (and in particular the back payment they received with
their irst award) had allowed them to pay off some of their debts. One couple with young children said that PIP had given them inancial independence from their parents on whom
they had previously relied for help with their weekly shopping bill.
For a small number of claimants the award of PIP was reported to have less of a inancial
effect. These were people already living in households (for example, with spouses or parents) where one or more adults were in paid employment. The additional income from PIP was spoken about positively, allowing people to buy better food, more clothing or treats
for children, but these effects were not spoken about as particularly signiicant differences
from their existing lifestyles.
A number of people spoke about the ‘relief’ of getting a PIP award and how being able to meet their bills or pay off their debts had resulted in less ‘stress’ and ‘anxiety’ in their lives.
‘I was so happy because I thought this just will get me out of a lot of trouble … the extra money like’
(Male, 25-39, awarded PIP)
A number of people also spoke about how PIP had made them eligible for other forms of support, including reductions in car tax payments, disabled ‘Blue Badges’ and a local taxi card. Some others said that receipt of PIP had led to increases in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and tax credit payments.
Two claimants who had been awarded maximum amounts of PIP under the Special Rules described how the money had allowed partners to give up or reduce their hours of work and, therefore, to have more time at home to care for them.
7.2.2
Effects on disallowed and withdrawn claims
The effect of not being awarded PIP was varied. Many of the disallowed claimants had low
incomes at the time they submitted their claim. Most relied on a combination of beneits
as their only income which for some was a relatively recent experience following the loss of employment. Most described how their health condition imposed additional costs such as transport (to hospitals for example), heating, laundry and special food, and hence, how
they struggled to make ends meet. Some had accrued debts while other relied on inancial
Depending on their inancial circumstances at the time people said that their lives had been
affected in different ways. Some had been looking forward to having additional money to spend but now had to continue with manage as they had done before. For others the effect was worse because their current expenditure had led them into debt or reliance on others:
‘I needed that help to help my family and to try and pay mum some rent.’
(Female, 25-39, claim disallowed)
One person who had built up rent arrears which she hoped to be able to reduce or clear had she been awarded PIP explained that she had now been forced to look for smaller, cheaper accommodation.
Several people talked about their disallowance leading to their feeling additional ‘stress’, for example of having to reduce expenditure and/or increasing their reliance on other family members. One person, talking about their partner whose claim was turned down, explained that they were hoping that additional money would have allowed him to take part in some leisure activities that would have improved the quality of his life. Without such activities, she said, ‘… he gets upset, he gets stressed out, bored …’
Three people expressed strong reactions to not receiving PIP. One talked about being ‘angry, annoyed and stressed’ by her disallowance particularly because she struggled with the costs of attending her local hospital for treatment. Her travel expenses had increased because she could no longer use public transport. Another said he felt let down by the system:
‘… when you need help it’s not there … you’re surrounded by people who seem to be getting lots of help … but you don’t seem to qualify …’
(Male, 40-54, claim withdrawn)
He was particularly unhappy because an award of PIP, he said, would have allowed his wife to take time off from work to aid his recovery, after which he would be able to return to work. The third claimant had a different complaint. She was upset because she felt the information she had supplied had been rejected:
‘I was quite emotional … it’s just like you don’t believe me, what more do you want, I
don’t understand …’
(Female, 25-39, claim disallowed)
Some of the claimants who had withdrawn their claims because their inancial circumstances
had improved in some way included some who took paid work. Other people had come to the conclusion at some point in the claiming process that they would probably not qualify
because their health was not suficiently bad. The strength of feeling about not receiving PIP
was mostly less than among disallowed claimants, but there was still some resentment that there was no help available to them to pay for the additional costs caused by their ill-health.
7.3
Discussion and conclusion
The costs of claiming PIP included the time involved, for family supporters and professionals involved as well as the claimants themselves. Financial costs included the expense of
telephone calls involved, not only to DWP but also to supporters, and in seeking information required. Some claimants had to meet travel expenses involved in going for assessments, which could also involve expenses for family or friends who went with them. Among
claimants interviewed who had been for assessments there was little awareness that travel expenses might be reclaimed.
The costs of claiming, for claimants, also included emotional effects of the procedure and for some people this meant embarrassment, frustration and negative effect of being asked questions that they experienced as intrusive or insensitive.
Case workers and case managers who took part referred to high stress levels in their teams, related to problems experienced in working with the system, the backlogs of work they faced, long delays in processing time and, for some, having to deal with frustrated or angry claimants.
Some of the claimants interviewed spoke about the positive effect of being dealt with by polite and friendly staff. Staff also recognised the positive emotional effects and job satisfaction they sometimes felt when claimants thanked them or expressed appreciation. The uses to which people put their PIP payments were varied but consistent with previous research on how people used Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).14 People who received awards said they spent the money on food, transport, heating,
clothing, household bills and their families. PIP awards, particularly lump-sum back-payments, had been useful to some people in paying off debts, and some used the money in ways to improve their chances of working – on training courses, further education or driving licences. The effect on claimants of a disallowance was generally described as having to go on managing on a low income, with the additional expenses for some of living with disability or ill-health. People who had built up debt were not able to use PIP to reduce this, as they had hoped. One claimant with rent arrears said it would be necessary now to move to
cheaper accommodation. There were strong negative emotional reactions for some of those disallowed, who were angry and upset that they did not qualify for help, or felt that they had not been believed.
There were few speciic suggestions from claimants as to how the effect of claiming might be improved. However, there have been indings throughout the report that we would expect to have some inluence: the match between awareness, understanding and expectation of PIP; the skills of staff at all levels in talking to people on the telephone; general understanding and accessibility for help among formal supporters and family members; the design of letters
notifying awards and skills of staff making follow-up calls. There have been suggestions for improvements in all of these. There would seem to be a need for greater understanding among claimants that travel expenses to attend assessments would be met.
Case workers and case managers said that workplace morale and well-being would improve if they saw improvements in the PIP system, reduction in processing time, improved training and relevant guidance (as discussed further in Chapter 8). Work on PIP had been proving hard, and support from team leaders and managers was essential.
14 Corden, A., Sainsbury, R., Irvine, A. and Clarke. S. (2010) The impact of Disability
Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance: indings from exploratory qualitative