People with MS receiving higher rate mobility allowance slashed by almost half

Amazing and terrible figures about the differences in payments between two of the UK’s disability benefits have been uncovered by the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show by using the Freedom of Information Act.

The differences relate to payments made through the Disabled Living Allowance which is being phased out in favour of the newer Personal Independence Payment. Both benefits have two sections, one for care and one for mobility. Both of those are paid at different rates, dependent of the level of the claimant’s disability.

Photo: The Independent.

And the absolutely terrible news is that the official figures, revealed by the Freedom of Information Act enquiry, reveal that number of recipients of the higher level of the mobility component has been slashed during the change from one benefit to another.

For people with multiple sclerosis, while 93% of DLA claimants got the higher rate of the mobility component, under PIP this has almost halved to 50%.

In the case of those with Parkinson’s, the situation is even worse as the numbers have fallen to less than half from82% down to just 40%.

The most shocking of all is that while 83% of people with rheumatoid arthritis who were DLA claimants got the higher rate of the mobility component, but under PIP this has plummeted by more than two thirds to a miserable 24%.

Benefits and Work website that advises people with disabilities about claiming benefits has been at the fore front of the fight against the transition from the DLA to PIP, point out that the unfairness of the system is worse than just mobility component.

On the website, this week, it says: “Some claimants, such as Wendy who has early onset Alzheimer’s, get an award of PIP and then 18 months later are found to have improved to the extent that they no longer qualify for anything.”

Now, I think that that is a pretty amazing recovery!

Benefits and Work continues: “It was clear from the outset that PIP’s main purpose was to cut costs. It is now equally clear that the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) don’t (sic) care who has to pay the price for those cuts.”

50shadesofsun.com is the personal website of Ian Franks, who is Managing Editor (columns division) of BioNews Services. BioNews is owner of 50 disease/didorder-specific news and information websites – including MS News Today. Ian has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor, in the print media. During that career he gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native UK. He was diagnosed with MS in 2002 but continued working until mobility problems forced him to retire early in late 2006. He now lives in the south of Spain. Besides MS, Ian is also able to write about both epilepsy and cardiovascular matters from a patient’s perspective and is a keen advocate on mobility and accessibility issues.

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