DWP has been accused of tightening its grip on PIP claims
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is under increasing scrutiny as fewer people are being awarded Personal Independence Payments (PIP), with claim success rates falling. In the quarter leading up to July 2025, there were 210,000 new PIP claims, a 3% drop from the same period the previous year.
The success rate (excluding withdrawn claims) has plummeted to 41%, down from 46% in July 2024. These figures suggest that more than one in ten people who won an award last year may well be turned away this year.
When looking at those who made it past the assessment stage, the picture is nearly as bleak with a 48% success rate compared with 53% a year ago. PIP doesn’t just hinge on new claims – many recipients undergo planned award reviews or DLA-to-PIP reassessments. The latest figures suggest these are being handled more harshly too.
Over the five-year period from August 2020 to July 2025, 76% of planned reviews resulted in either an increase or no change in a claimant’s award. However, in just the quarter leading up to July 2025, only 66.47% of reviews led to the same or higher award.
The breakdown is even more striking:
- Disallowed pre-assessment: down from 8.54 % to 4.79 %.
- Failed assessment: from 6.16 % to 4.38 %.
- Award decreased: from 6.48 % to 3.83 %.
- Award increased: plunging from 15.41 % to 8.2%.
- Award stayed the same: rising from 39.89 % → 58.27 %.
Meanwhile, for DLA to PIP reassessments, there were 23,000 carried out in the quarter. The success rate dropped from 76% to 72%. Amidst all the chaos, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has shifted its focus on which cases it’s prioritising.
In the quarter ending July 2025:
- The number of processed cases for planned award reviews saw a rise of 49%.
- Changes in circumstance clearances increased by 26%.
- Disability Living Allowance reassessments went up by 12%.
Experts suggest that the DWP seems to be losing interest in processing new claims, while simultaneously cracking down harder on reviews.
Why such a significant drop?
There have been no new laws introduced that would account for such a drastic decrease in success rates. Some speculate this could be a statistical anomaly, while others fear a deliberate shift in enforcement or interpretation at the DWP.
Meanwhile, the total number of people entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) continues to increase. As of 30 April 2025, there were 3.7 million claimants in England and Wales receiving PIP, an increase of 2%. Campaign groups are warning of wider changes that could dramatically worsen outcomes.
One analysis suggests that by 2029–30, 370,000 current PIP recipients could lose their daily living entitlement on review under proposed reforms, and 430,000 future claimants might miss out entirely, with an average loss of £4,500 per year. Benefit rights organisations are raising the alarm. They argue that the current system already demands too much from already vulnerable people – and this latest tightening could push many over the edge.
Svetlana Kotova, Director of Campaigns & Justice at Inclusion London, stated: “These statistics are further evidence of how much misery the government is willing to inflict on disabled people who are already living in poverty.”