Woman wrongly denied £3,800 disability benefit for doing up her bra
A woman was unfairly deprived of disability benefits worth £3,800 a year because she was able to sew her bra inside out, a court has ruled.
The anonymous claimant narrowly missed receiving her personal independence payment (PIP) after assessors said her “lifting her bra up and then turning it back” was evidence she had no problems getting dressed.
This meant he missed two points required to qualify for the minimum benefit for those struggling with activities of daily living. These made the difference between £295.60 a month or £3,842.80 a year and nothing.
It was stated that the woman, who complained of arthritic pain and numbness in her wrists and hands, had her evaluation done over the phone and presented her evidence orally.
After his leave appeal was rejected at the lower tier court, he took his case to the upper tier court, where it was heard by judge Mark West.
He said the first-tier tribunal had erred in law because it “simply concluded that the appellant should have avoided the clothes and changed the way he dressed by ‘spinning'” and ignored the limiting effects of his disability.
Justice West referred to a case in 2015 in which the top court ruled it would be unfair to judge a PIP applicant who could not manage his ability to tie buttons or laces with velcro; because this defeats the purpose of the test.
He set aside the initial court hearing, meaning the appeal will be heard again.
Claimed by 3.8 million people, PIP is a health-related benefit designed to help cover the extra costs of living with an illness or disability. It was at the heart of Labour’s proposed welfare reforms earlier this year, when ministers were forced to make a damaging U-turn on the plans.
PIP assessment has long been criticized by disability rights advocates as a difficult and inconsistent process. More than half (51 per cent) of disabled people with complex needs say they feel humiliated by their assessment, according to the survey by disability charity Sense. 45 percent said that the process made their symptoms worse.
Nearly half of PIP assessments resulted in an award in the five years to March 2025; Only 19 per cent of appeals to the DWP resulted in a change of decision. In the same period, the decisions in the courts were overturned by 66 percent.
This can be a lengthy process, with the hearing in the first tier court lasting up to six months. The final stage, the upper court, is a legal process that can take up to 18 months in total.
Amid the government’s withdrawal of a proposal to make PIP actually harder to claim, it has been announced that disability minister Sir Stephen Timms will conduct a review into the benefit.
The government said there would be a “wider review of the PIP assessment as a whole” to “make sure it is fair and fit for the future”. The review is expected to be completed in autumn 2026.
A DWP spokesman said: “This is a very new decision and we are currently reviewing it.
“We are aware of the problems in the current system, which is why we have launched a ministerial review of the PIP, co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations, to ensure that the PIP is fit and fair for the future.”
