Personal independence payment (PIP) claimants could be due big payouts, as the Department for Work and Pensions resumes its reassessment of past claims.
The DWP is looking again at old claims following two landmark tribunal decisions, which ruled that some claimants had not been paid benefits they were due.
The reassessment process was paused in March 2020 so the department could focus on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
It has now emerged that the DWP has resumed this process, meaning more past claimants could soon receive windfalls.
Claimants could get up to £13,000 paid back to them, according to the Daily Record.
The tribunals found the DWP had not sufficiently taken into account how psychological distress affects some claimants’ ability to plan and follow journeys, nor had it adequately assessed the risk of injury when carrying out daily tasks.
Now the new assessment criteria is in place, the department is looking back at old claims to see if any claimants are owed.
That process includes people who applied for PIP but were turned down, people who moved from the old disability living allowance, and people who successfully claimed PIP - regardless of whether they still receive it.
The only exceptions are people who already receive the maximum PIP amount.
As of 17 January 2021, the most recent date for which the government has published data, around 6,600 back payments have been made, totalling around £32 million.
