UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2026

Benefits & Work Newsletter

FEWER PIP REVIEWS, MORE WCA REASSESSMENTS, MORE FACE-TO-FACE

From April 2026, the time between PIP reviews is to be extended for the majority of claimants aged 25 and over, to a minimum of three years for a new claim, rising to 5 years at their next review.

The reduced numbers will allow assessment providers to increase the proportion of face-to-face, rather than telephone, reviews they carry out.

For PIP, the proportion will rise from 6% at present to 30%.

For WCAs, it will rise from 13% to 30%.

This is likely to reduce the number of awards. In 2024, the success rate for face-to-face PIP assessments was 44% compared to 57% for virtual assessments.

The change is also intended to allow more WCA reassessments to be carried out from April.

PIP PLANNED REVIEW NUMBERS DOUBLE, SUCCESS RATES FALL

The number of PIP planned reviews carried out in the most recent quarter has almost doubled compared to last year, the latest DWP statistics show, but success rates for both reviews and fresh claims have fallen.

Planned PIP review numbers are up by 96% as the DWP tries to cut the enormous backlog.

But at the same time, the success rate for new claims has fallen from 44% to 38% in the course of a year.

And whilst the percentage of awards that were decreased or disallowed after a planned review remains very similar, there was a big drop in the percentage of awards that were increased. It was down from 24% last year to 14% this year.

So, DWP seem to have succeeded in making PIP planned award reviews virtually financially neutral: three quarters of awards stay the same and almost the same proportion of claimants have their award decreased or disallowed as have it increased.

No wonder then, that the DWP are now willing to increase the time between reviews – they no longer have anything to lose.

 
I'm applying for ESA and the Jobcentre insists on monthly in-person visits until I get a WCA. They also need to confirm my ID, but I'm largely bedbound.

I've spoken to them multiple times and they cannot do home visits or phone appointments. I'm waiting for a doctor's letter, but I'm not even sure what my GP will write as they all think mecfs is fatigue, not PEM. I could probably do an in-person visit with a private ambulance an wheelchair service which is around £300 for each appointment according to AI. That's nearly as much as the benefits I'm applying for.

What's the best way to insist they need to make reasonable adjustments? So far I'm planning to send the doctor's letter via post, but they've already messed up scheduling appointments and never seem to have my file open so I assume they will never receive it. Calling is not an option as I need written documentation of my communication with them or they'll pretend it didn't happen.
 
OrganicChilli said:
I'm applying for ESA and the Jobcentre insists on monthly in-person visits until I get a WCA. They also need to confirm my ID, but I'm largely bedbound.

I've spoken to them multiple times and they cannot do home visits or phone appointments. I'm waiting for a doctor's letter, but I'm not even sure what my GP will write as they all think mecfs is fatigue, not PEM. I could probably do an in-person visit with a private ambulance an wheelchair service which is around £300 for each appointment according to AI. That's nearly as much as the benefits I'm applying for.

What's the best way to insist they need to make reasonable adjustments? So far I'm planning to send the doctor's letter via post, but they've already messed up scheduling appointments and never seem to have my file open so I assume they will never receive it. Calling is not an option as I need written documentation of my communication with them or they'll pretend it didn't happen.
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Are you by any chance registered as housebound in the NHS system? I hope your GP writes you're housebound regardless.

I don't have any experience with ESA and Jobcentre but I'm wondering if they could keep arguing against that.
 
OrganicChilli said:
I'm not sure. Is that somewhere in the NHS app? I've mentioned it to them in summer and the GP wrote that I prefer phone appointments because of fatigue (sigh)
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I've never used the app. I can log in to my account at https://systmonline.tpp-uk.com/
I can see in my records that one day they added a coded entry 13CA for housebound and also wrote the diagnosis as a reason.
 
The usual way is to make a formal request by letter.

You need to explain how you're disabled, what adjustments you need, and how you would be disadvantaged if you weren't offered those adjustments. I did this at work, and was advised to use that format by my union. Under the first heading, I explain how I was disabled under the Equality Act.

The letter doesn't need to be long, and in the description of your impairment it's best to focus on the effects of ME/CFS rather than the diagnosis itself. That's the basis on which disability benefits are assessed, and when it comes to little-understood conditions like ours, it's quite helpful for it to be that way around.

You can use the £300-per-visit issue as one of ways in which you'd be disadvantaged. For someone with severe ME/CFS, the impact on your health of having to visit a Jobcentre is far more of an issue, but it's hard to communicate. The cost really stands out as an unreasonable burden on a claimant.

I always send things by Special Delivery, which is expensive but you do at least have proof that they've received it. If you pay for the postage by Click & Drop (Royal Mail website) the letter can be collected from your home, you don't need to find someone to post it.

I'm sorry you're having to go through this.
 
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