More than 300,000 households owed PIP back payment

Hundreds of thousands of personal independence payment (PIP) claimants could be owed backpay after a supreme court ruling. Find out more, including what to do if you might be affected.

What’s changed?

The supreme court changed the way ‘social support’ is defined in one of the assessed PIP categories back in 2019. Under the scoring system, assessors had to decide if someone needed ‘prompting’ to engage with other people, or ‘social support’.

If someone needed ‘prompting’ rather than ‘social support’, they scored fewer points, which could make all the difference between being awarded PIP or being turned down.

It also means many didn’t receive the daily living element of PIP, despite being entitled to it.

And others should have received the enhanced rate but were awarded the standard rate instead. The standard allowance is currently worth £68.10 a week while the enhanced rate is £101.75 each week.

So if you’ve been underpaid, you could be owed a back payment of up to £12,000 – though the average works out at around £5,285.

The ruling has been dubbed the ‘MM judgment’ – named after the man who successfully challenged the PIP points scoring system. MM was originally deemed ineligible for PIP because of confusion about the criteria.

PIP claim review

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been looking at PIP claims since 6 April 2016 to see if claimants should be getting more support.

Around 632,286 cases need a review – so far, 219,080 cases have been reviewed and £142m paid out to those affected.

DWP says it’s trying to make backdated payments “as quickly as possible” and is continuing to review claims affected by the definition change.

A spokesperson said: “We are also testing a more proportionate approach for claimants who might be affected by the timing element only.”

Those who are terminally ill or who have recently died have been prioritised by DWP to test communications and processes before ramping up efforts with other claimants.

DWP isn’t reviewing claims if:

• claimants received an enhanced daily living rate continuously since 6 April 2016
• a tribunal has made a decision about a claim since 6 April 2016
• a decision not to award PIP was made before 6 April 2016

How to appeal a PIP decision

You can challenge a PIP decision if you think it was wrong, including if you think your payments have been affected by the MM judgment.

You can ask for a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’ and DWP will look at your claim decision again.

Find out more about how to do this in our guide about challenging a PIP decision.