The DWP admits that only a small number of PIP disability benefit assessments are carried out face-to-face

One of the major changes in society after coronavirus pandemic has been the astronomical increase in disease and disability. This leaves millions of Britons out of work and dependent on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) advantage.

More than 3.6 million people are now addicted to this Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) disability benefit to cope, up 50 per cent since February 2020, partly due to an increase in poor mental health with around half a million PIP claimants citing anxiety or depression.

At the same time that the pandemic prevents personal disability assessments, the vast majority of PIP claims began to be assessed externally or via paper application. According to the DWP’s latest data, released in response to a question in the House of Lords, this dynamic has held steady, with just two to four per cent of assessments now taking place face-to-face.

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Meanwhile, 77 percent of claims are now assessed externally via video or phone interview, and 18 percent submit paper claims. All this is taking place as the DWP faces a growing mountain of PIP applications, processing up to 100,000 each month by 2024, compared to just 29,000 assessed in March 2020.

With so many applications, many are waiting months to get an assessment, while some on the benefit are waiting more than a year to have their benefit award reviewed. However, when they do get to the assessment, around half of applicants are successful in making these claims and receiving PIP, while just over a third receive the higher cost of PIP – which can total as much as £737 a month in financial support.

To tackle these caseloads on the DWP, Labor The government has promised to reform disability benefits by helping more people back into work, while hiring more assessors and outside contractors to help tackle the backlog.

It is important that Labor has also ruled out the Conservative proposals to turn cash assistance into a voucher-based system, where Debbie Abrahams tells Mirror that the scheme was “nonsense”. She said: “It shouldn’t be a political football. It’s something we should hopefully rally around. I think it’s really, really important so it’s not used as a political football – who can outdo anyone else on how tough you are” it becomes Social Security.

“It’s there for all of us. Most disabilities are acquired. Any one of us can cross the road and have an accident and fall on hard times.”

The latest DWP data breakdown of the top five reasons for making a PIP claim are:

• Psychiatric disorder (39%)

• Musculoskeletal disease (general) (19%)

• Neurological disease (13%)

• Musculoskeletal disease (regional) (12%)

• Respiratory disease (4%)