Vulnerable disabled people are being forced to wait more than a year for crucial financial support, according to a damning new report. The delays in processing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are leaving claimants in severe financial hardship.
Unacceptable Delays and Missed Targets
The DWP has an official target to process 75% of new PIP claims within 75 working days. However, recent performance figures reveal a starkly different reality. In the 2024–25 period, only 51% of claims were completed within this timeframe.
A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has condemned these extensive waiting times as "unacceptable", highlighting that some individuals are left in limbo for over twelve months. The committee's chairman, Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, expressed profound frustration, stating that promised improvements have failed to materialise.
Devastating Impact on Claimants
PIP is designed to help disabled people cover the significant extra costs associated with daily living and mobility. Instead of providing a lifeline, the system's delays are creating a crisis for many.
Claimants stuck in these lengthy backlogs are frequently pushed into debt, rent arrears, and poverty while they await a decision. The financial and emotional anguish caused by the wait has become a central feature of the failing system.
"This is far too long for claimants to have to wait to get a better service," the PAC report concluded. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown added, "This is simply not good enough for our constituents, who we know risk being pushed into debt or poverty by a department unresponsive to their needs."
DWP Response and Reform Promises
In response to the criticism, the DWP acknowledged that some claimants do experience these extreme waits, even if they are not fully reflected in the department's headline statistics. A spokesperson outlined the government's planned reforms.
The department stated it is "fixing the broken welfare system" through a £647 million modernisation programme. Measures include redeploying around 1,000 work coaches to support sick and disabled people and implementing what it calls the "most ambitious employment reforms for a generation."
However, these assurances offered little comfort to the committee. Sir Geoffrey noted that after receiving reassurances of improvement three years ago, the committee is now told that solutions are "a further three years off," prolonging the hardship for thousands.
