Disabled PIP claimant fears losing £300 a month under new rules | Personal Finance | Finance
A PIP claimant (Personal Independence Payment) fears her entitlement could drop by some £300 month under new eligibility rules. Georgian Colman is warning that most recipients will see their payments axed.
Ms Colman lives with multiple sclerosis and ADHD and receives the PIP enhanced rate for mobility, currently around £303 a month, and £290.60 a month with the standard rate for daily living element. However she could soon lose out on this second amount.
This is because under changes announced today (March 18) to reduce the Government’s benefits bill, you will need to score at least four points on one of the 10 daily living activities to get the lower daily living element for PIP. Ms Colman warned: “As someone with MS there are many things I need help with in the home but I wouldn’t get 4 points in one section based on the current scale.
“If this isn’t changed, most people will lose the daily living component. With these changes, many people on PIP may lose it unless the scoring scale is changed.”
PIP is supposed to provide financial support to help cover the extra costs of those with a long-term health condition or disability. But Ms Colman said her payments already fall short of her needs.
She said: “My costs are much higher than the amount I receive but I work and that also goes towards my additional costs. It’s hard to know what the monthly shortfall is as I have a combination of monthly costs and then costs for assisted technologies or wheelchairs that never last as long as you would hope.”
The basic daily living rate will be £73.90 a week from April when benefits increase 1.7%, rising to around £320 a month or £3,842.80 a year. But the eligibility changes are not coming in until November 2026, after next year’s benefits increase, so the drop for those losing out will be even more.
Explaining some of the extra costs she has to get around, Ms Colman said she has a foot drop device that costs around £3,500. This also has a monthly cost of £15 for the electrode pads, but her previous device lasted less than three years.
She also pays £240 a month for neurophysiotherapy, with these costs increasing from April, and she has other therapies to help keep her body mobile. She spends all her mobility element on her vehicle costs.
She added: “None of that takes into account the extra heating costs as my body doesn’t work well in the cold, dietary costs, supplements, other equipment to help my body and the list goes on.”
Ms Colman runs Purpl, a discount website for those who live with disabilities. A survey of her members found four in 10 are using their PIP to pay for mobility aids, therapy costs, medications, supplements and disability related products that aren’t covered by the NHS.
She warned that PIP assessments can be “degrading and humiliating” especially if your assessor is not familiar with your particular health condition. She also called for a change in the Government’s approach to reforming benefits.
She said: “The whole discussion is around getting disabled people into work, but PIP is not an out of work benefit, it is to pay for the extra costs of living with a disability. If the Government really wants to help more disabled people into work, then they need to address the systemic failures with employment barriers and the pay gap between disabled and non-disabled people.”
