Updated on 24/04/2020
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have changed the way you can access your benefits during the coronavirus crisis. The benefits affected are:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Attendance Allowance (AA).
Face-to-face assessments suspended from 17 March to 17 June 2020
The DWP announced that from 17 March, all face-to-face assessments for PIP, ESA and UC would stop for three months.
DLA and AA benefits face-to-face assessments were also suspended for three months from 24 March to 24 June 2020.
If you had a face-to-face assessment appointment booked from 17 March then you should not go to your appointment.
You’ll be contacted by the relevant organisation to discuss the next steps. If you need to contact anyone, the details of who to contact should be on the confirmation letter you received for your face-to-face assessment.
Suspending face-to-face appointments means that the DWP can make sure they can continue to give you access to your benefits without putting your health at risk.
Your claim will either be assessed on the paperwork that’s available at the time, or over the phone. If it’s over the phone, you may need to answer extra questions if there isn’t enough information in your paper work.
For new claims, it’s important to include as much medical evidence as possible in your application. This will make sure your assessment goes quickly and forwarded on to the DWP decision makers. If you have any letters that record the outcome of a medical appointment, these are especially useful to include in your application.
Awards extended and no new reviews or reassessments will happen
DWP have extended all PIP awards and there will be no reassessments of benefits for three months from Tuesday 24 March. The benefits included in this are:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Attendance Allowance (AA).
If you’ve already had an assessment for PIP, the decision-making process will continue as normal.
If you have an assessment scheduled, your assessment provider will contact you to explain if they’ll do a paper or telephone assessment.
If your PIP award is ending soon, it will be automatically extended for six months.
Assessment appeals are now paper only
Over the next six months (from March), Tribunal judges have the power to make provisional decisions about PIP, ESA, UC and DLA appeals by themselves.
They’ll use all the information and paperwork they have at the time to make a decision. They’ll only do this if they believe a successful outcome for you is highly likely.
Once they’ve made a provisional decision, they’ll ask you and the DWP if you agree. If you both agree, the decision will become final.
If you or the DWP (or both) do not agree, you can still take your case to a full hearing. All full hearings will now be held over video calls, or over telephone.
If you’re going through this process, you may feel pressured to accept the judge’s decision. It’s important to make sure their decision is right for you. We can help you by assessing the decision and helping explain anything you’re unsure about.
Changes to claiming for Universal Credit
There are also changes to how you can access Universal Credit (UC). UC is a payment to help with your living costs if you’re on a low income or out of work. It’s usually paid monthly.
The government has changed how people can apply for or continue receiving UC. These changes include:
- All Jobcentre Plus (JCP) offices are now closed
- All new UC claims are done online or by telephone on 0800 328 5644
- JCP will verify your ID online and not in person
- If you don’t have a photo ID available, you can request a biographical telephone appointment online
- People with medical conditions not related to coronavirus will follow the normal UC claims process
- If you’re identified as ‘high risk’ of catching coronavirus, you may be able to get your claim processed quicker
- The standard allowance for UC will increase by £20
- UC housing allowance has also increased depending on the area you live in
- If you can’t get a fit note (sick note), from your GP, you should let UC know as soon as possible, record this in your online journal, and get a fit note backdated when you can.
The following will also be suspended for three months:
- Work search requirements
- Debt recovery payments deducted from UC
- Face-to-face Work Capability Assessments (WCA) - if you’re making a new UC application, you may have to wait some time for a WCA.
DWP are still recovering advance payments of UC, these are not suspended.
Carers allowance changes
The DWP announced temporary changes to carer’s allowance rules in April. Carers will be able to continue to claim carer’s allowance if they have a temporary break in caring because they, or the person they care for:
- Get coronavirus
- Have to isolate because of coronavirus.
Under normal rules there are restrictions on breaks in care, but these are temporarily lifted.
Carers can also claim for providing emotional support, rather than just more traditional forms of care. Emotional support will now count towards the carer’s allowance threshold of 35 hours of care a week.
Benefit overpayment recovery suspended
Over the coming weeks, you may see a temporary increase in your benefits payments. This is because the DWP have stopped recovering benefit overpayments for three months from 1 April.
For now, deductions for recovering UC and legacy benefit overpayments, social fund loans and tax credit debts are paused.
The DWP says that they will suspect the majority of deductions automatically. Private sector debt collection agencies will also stop recovering overpayments.
Useful links
Read the latest guidance on accessing your benefits:
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