Kitty
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
That's great! Same thing happened to me, and in the end I was never assessed at all. Fingers crossed.
UK: Disability benefits (UC, ESA and PIP) - news and updates 2026
- Thread starter tornandfrayed
- Start date
That's great! Same thing happened to me, and in the end I was never assessed at all. Fingers crossed.
John Mac
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Latest Benefit & Work newsletter
PIP CLAIM SUCCESS RATES CONTINUE TO FALL
The chances of making a successful claim are continuing to fall, with only just over a one in three chance of a new claimant getting an award.
For the quarter ending January 2026, the percentage of new claims that received an award was just 35%, down from 43% a year ago.
Looking only at new PIP claims which got as far as the assessment stage, the success rate was 45%, down from 51% a year ago.
There has been no change to PIP rules, regulations or caselaw that would explain this continuing steep fall in successful claims
ALMOST 100,000 WAIT FOR APPEAL AS SUCCESS RATES FALL
Almost 100,000 social security claimants are waiting for their appeals to be heard, an increase of 25% over the preceding year.
There has been a 35% increase in the number of UC appeals, a 4% increase in PIP appeals and a 64% increase in DLA appeals.
Success rates for claimants have fallen in relation to all the main benefits.
58% of appeals were won by the claimant, a fall of 2% compared to the year before.
PIP CLAIM SUCCESS RATES CONTINUE TO FALL
The chances of making a successful claim are continuing to fall, with only just over a one in three chance of a new claimant getting an award.
For the quarter ending January 2026, the percentage of new claims that received an award was just 35%, down from 43% a year ago.
Looking only at new PIP claims which got as far as the assessment stage, the success rate was 45%, down from 51% a year ago.
There has been no change to PIP rules, regulations or caselaw that would explain this continuing steep fall in successful claims
ALMOST 100,000 WAIT FOR APPEAL AS SUCCESS RATES FALL
Almost 100,000 social security claimants are waiting for their appeals to be heard, an increase of 25% over the preceding year.
There has been a 35% increase in the number of UC appeals, a 4% increase in PIP appeals and a 64% increase in DLA appeals.
Success rates for claimants have fallen in relation to all the main benefits.
58% of appeals were won by the claimant, a fall of 2% compared to the year before.
- PIP 64%, down 3%
- DLA 59%, down 2%
- UC 48%, down 1%
- ESA 42%, down 11%
John Mac
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Benefits & work newsletter
SAVAGE SEVERE CONDITIONS CRITERIA (SCC) CUTS HAVE BEGUN
Labour’s savage severe conditions criteria (SCC) cuts to UC have now taken effect for new claims from 6 April.
Under the revised rules, new claimants who have limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA), but do not meet the SCC, receive a UC health component payment of just £217.26 per month. Existing claimants and those who meet the SCC receive £429.80 per month, however.
We’ve updated our guide to the WCA, which now includes:
SAVAGE SEVERE CONDITIONS CRITERIA (SCC) CUTS HAVE BEGUN
Labour’s savage severe conditions criteria (SCC) cuts to UC have now taken effect for new claims from 6 April.
Under the revised rules, new claimants who have limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA), but do not meet the SCC, receive a UC health component payment of just £217.26 per month. Existing claimants and those who meet the SCC receive £429.80 per month, however.
We’ve updated our guide to the WCA, which now includes:
- a detailed explanation of how the SCC works
- alerts to warn you which descriptors qualify as you complete the WCA50 form
- details of how and where on the WCA50 form to show whether you qualify
- sample SCC answers
- sample SCC case studies.
John Mac
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Benefits & Work newsletter
RIGHT TO TRY WORK LEGISLATION IS WORTHLESS
The DWP has hailed “landmark” new Right To Try work legislation, which comes into force on 30 April, as having removed the fear of losing benefits if disabled claimants try work.
But the details reveal that, in reality, the supposed guarantee is worthless.
Because, if the work you undertake leads the DWP to suspect that there has been a change in your condition, an improvement in your functional ability or that you are a fraud, then this can still lead to your PIP, ESA or UC award being looked at again.
All the government has done is enshrine in statute what the DWP were already doing.
The Social Security Advisory Committee made seven recommendations to improve the legislation.
Two of these alone would have made a real difference:
1. the DWP should be legally prevented from initiating a reassessment within six months of a claimant starting paid or voluntary work, unless there is suspicion of fraud;
2. if a claimant has a scheduled reassessment within the first six months of starting work, any activities they undertake in work should not be used as evidence of a sustained improvement in their capacity.
The DWP said they would consider the first for inclusion at some unspecified future date and flatly rejected the second.
So, nothing has changed.
The Right To Try guarantee is worthless.
Labour will not protect disabled claimants benefits if they try work.
We have updated our members guide to “Permitted Work And Working While On Universal Credit Due To Sickness Or Disability” to include details of the Right To Try.
RIGHT TO TRY WORK LEGISLATION IS WORTHLESS
The DWP has hailed “landmark” new Right To Try work legislation, which comes into force on 30 April, as having removed the fear of losing benefits if disabled claimants try work.
But the details reveal that, in reality, the supposed guarantee is worthless.
Because, if the work you undertake leads the DWP to suspect that there has been a change in your condition, an improvement in your functional ability or that you are a fraud, then this can still lead to your PIP, ESA or UC award being looked at again.
All the government has done is enshrine in statute what the DWP were already doing.
The Social Security Advisory Committee made seven recommendations to improve the legislation.
Two of these alone would have made a real difference:
1. the DWP should be legally prevented from initiating a reassessment within six months of a claimant starting paid or voluntary work, unless there is suspicion of fraud;
2. if a claimant has a scheduled reassessment within the first six months of starting work, any activities they undertake in work should not be used as evidence of a sustained improvement in their capacity.
The DWP said they would consider the first for inclusion at some unspecified future date and flatly rejected the second.
So, nothing has changed.
The Right To Try guarantee is worthless.
Labour will not protect disabled claimants benefits if they try work.
We have updated our members guide to “Permitted Work And Working While On Universal Credit Due To Sickness Or Disability” to include details of the Right To Try.
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John Mac
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Welfare bill will not be included in government's King's Speech
Sir Keir Starmer has not included a second attempt to reform welfare in Wednesday's King's Speech, the BBC has learnt.The prime minister's first attempt to make significant changes to the welfare system, including restricting eligibility for some health-related benefits, resulted in a mass revolt of Labour MPs and an embarrassing climbdown for the government in June 2025.
Since then ministers have announced a pair of reviews designed to generate new ideas, as well as a handful of measures designed to incentivise more people to work.
But it is understood that the government is not yet ready to propose a new parliamentary bill on welfare, so it will not form part of Wednesday's proceedings.
Welfare bill not included in government's King's Speech
It is understood that the government is not yet ready to propose a new parliamentary bill on welfare.
www.bbc.co.uk
John Mac
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Benefits & Work Newsletter
DWP TO BEGIN LENGTHENING EXISTING PIP AWARDS FROM JUNE
The DWP is enacting legislation to allow it to extend the PIP awards of existing claimants, in order to cope with the growing backlog of planned award reviews.
The department says if it does not do so, the existing assessment system will “fall over”.
They also revealed that the current system of extending some PIP awards by short periods was being done “without clear statutory cover”.
In other words, extending awards ad hoc for a year at a time as the DWP has been doing is probably unlawful.
The new regulations mean that where a current claimant has a fixed term award that is due for review, the decision maker can choose to simply lengthen the award, where “it is necessary to do so to safeguard the efficient administration of personal independence payment.”
The regulations do not give the DWP the power to shorten existing fixed-term award or to change the rates being paid, only to extend the length of the award.
The changes will not apply to claimants under 25.
The department admits that some savings will arise where claimants with worsening conditions do not ask for an earlier review.
We’ll keep readers informed about how the roll-out of extending existing awards works out in practice after it begins in June.
DWP TO BEGIN LENGTHENING EXISTING PIP AWARDS FROM JUNE
The DWP is enacting legislation to allow it to extend the PIP awards of existing claimants, in order to cope with the growing backlog of planned award reviews.
The department says if it does not do so, the existing assessment system will “fall over”.
They also revealed that the current system of extending some PIP awards by short periods was being done “without clear statutory cover”.
In other words, extending awards ad hoc for a year at a time as the DWP has been doing is probably unlawful.
The new regulations mean that where a current claimant has a fixed term award that is due for review, the decision maker can choose to simply lengthen the award, where “it is necessary to do so to safeguard the efficient administration of personal independence payment.”
The regulations do not give the DWP the power to shorten existing fixed-term award or to change the rates being paid, only to extend the length of the award.
The changes will not apply to claimants under 25.
The department admits that some savings will arise where claimants with worsening conditions do not ask for an earlier review.
We’ll keep readers informed about how the roll-out of extending existing awards works out in practice after it begins in June.
