Proposed PIP Changes

teddysmum

People are expected to work longer and longer , so probably more will carry PIP into old age, as they qualify at an older age (Some online news sites say that people of state pension age will not have their cases subjected to examination). I have mentioned before, on here, the case of a lady near me who had leg amputation very shortly after passing the qualifying age for DLA, her husband had an old car that they would not be replacing, they lived on a hill and her husband , whose arthritis was getting worse would have to push her chair or leave her at home. Despite an appeal, all the help she got was AA, yet she must have been in a worse position than others, who had help.

I have come to feel more sorry for this couple, because of recent experience. I can only walk a couple of steps safely, so rely on my husband for transport, but because he had a stroke in January, he is banned from driving until the hospital clears him and  that appointment, now in May, would not have existed, had I not rung the hospital's ophthalmology department, where a nurse told me his 6 week appointment was pending (still, after 10 weeks) with no date, so it would have stayed like that, had I not called. She gave me an appointment there and then.

I have only been able to go out once, to a hospital appointment, since before Christmas, when my sister was able to give me a lift. Our GP has tested David and thinks he will be fine, so there is hope, here, but suddenly being stuck at home, for ever, must have been hell for that lady, who wouldn't even be able to go into her garden.

Luckily we have savings, which I'm sure the government would like, that have had to be dug into to help buy a manual wheelchair, which I can't manage alone, a folding electric one costing nearly £3k, that I have used only twice, because of another ailment I'm fostering and bad weather, for more freedom, when going to our caravan and something I thought extravagant, but am going to have ie a Vela chair which will  enable me to use the kitchen, but will cost nearly £3k again ,so I am lucky, but what about the people on just AA, not on Pension Credit and its freebies, for the sake of a few pounds from a private pension, which they thought would help , but actually left them worse off than the Pension Credit receivers. This shouldn't happen with a few pounds costing hundreds or even thousands, in a poverty situation.

CosmoChic

@teddysmum I'm sorry to hear about your situation.  It sounds really tough.  And absolutely unfair.

Imo, the over state pension age disability benefits are a farce, and incredibly unfair.

HillStreetBlues

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-08/45439

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of the measure set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on PIP claimants of retirement age.

Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.

The answer is unclear as people over SPA can be reassessed.

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-08/45439

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of the measure set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on PIP claimants of retirement age.

Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.

The answer is unclear as people over SPA can be reassessed.

They are just on a 10 year light touch...
Whatever that means. 

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

HillStreetBlues said:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-08/45439

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of the measure set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on PIP claimants of retirement age.

Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.

The answer is unclear as people over SPA can be reassessed.

They are just on a 10 year light touch...
Whatever that means. 

It suppose to be a tick box if nothing has changed, but if something does change then it's possible for a reassessment.

nannytone_2

CosmoChic said:

@Cyclamen and @Spoonie_Turtle

I knew my view wouldn't be popular.  

I suggest it would be in the interests of fairness, particularly now in times where disabled people of all ages are under the cosh. 

Many people gain a Blue Badge without having PIP due to having developed a specific disability post-retirement age.  

If we're not interested in cost-cutting, are we interested in fairness?

Those who become disabled post- retirement age, to the degree they require a Blue Badge, shouldn't they automatically be granted Enhanced Mobility and access to Motability?  In equity with their equally disabled peers who already have this?  With perhaps an assessment of their Daily Living needs once they are eligible for a Blue Badge? 

It seems to me, we have a two-tier system for disabled pensioners.  Those who are the 'correct' type of disabled i.e. who accessed PIP pre-retirement, and those who are the 'lesser' sort of disabled i.e. they became disabled due to the natural ageing process.  The fact is they all have limited mobility, irrespective of when that manifested.

I am not a pensioner yet, but your fairness argument only works for disabled people with difficulties with walking.
I am 62 and as fit as a flea.  I can walk for miles.
I am also blind so need someone with me.
A sighted pensioner can use a mobility scooter but I won't be able to.
So is that fair or would I still be disadvantaged compared to someone of the same age?

HillStreetBlues

Might be better  (and fairer)  to create a new thread on issues not about the current proposed changes to PIP as this one is being taken OT