Claiming procedure designed to be ‘as unpleasant as possible’
THE time taken for Donna’s application to be processed came as ‘ no surprise’ to Portsmouth City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson who said he has had to support ‘many cases’ of city residents trying to access the benefit.
Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: ‘It’s an absolute disgraceful system and in my time at the council I’ve had to try and help many people with their claims. The system seems designed by the government to be as unpleasant as possible and to be as difficult as possible for people to get the benefits they are entitled to.
‘I think the government just hope people will give up with their application.’
Responding to the situation a spokesman for DWP said: ‘We are very sorry for the delay and have apologised to Ms Wickers. She has been awarded the highest rates of PIP and it will be backdated to when she first made her claim.’
The DWP also said the application was approved within expected levels and the average clearance time from an application to a decision being made was 16 weeks. They also said due to Covid guidelines and suspension of face-to-face assessments to be replaced with telephone assessment there had been an impact on the waiting time for some claims to be processed.
Commenting on the time taken Portsmouth South's Labour MP Stephen Morgan commented: ‘This is deeply troubling and a solution to cases such as these must be found quickly. It’s vital those that are terminally ill get the quality of life and respect they deserve – pandemic or not. The terminally ill have too often been forgotten about during this pandemic and I will be questioning the government and its relevant departments to ensure this changes quickly.’
Portsmouth North’s Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt is also concerned about the time taken for some claims to be processed.
Ms Mordaunt said: ‘It’s recognised that those with a diagnosis of terminal illness should be a priority and are also entitled to additional support. I have campaigned to get the same clinical definitions of palliative care used in both the NHS and benefits system, and the situation has improved.
‘However, if anyone finds themselves in this position they should contact their MP to chase it up and check they are getting all the support available.’
Fellow Conservative MP and former parliamentary under secretary of state at the DWP, Caroline Dinenage, added: ‘It’s crucial that people who have a terminal illness receive support when they need it, and that the process for accessing this support does not involve unnecessary stress. Special rules for terminal illness mean that if you are nearing the end of life your claim can be fast-tracked and paid at the highest rate of benefit.’