Companies failing people applying for health and disability benefits says Citizens Advice

People who are disabled or living with a long term health condition are being failed by the private companies assessing their benefit needs, says Citizens Advice.

Last month the national charity gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on health and disability assessments, which are outsourced to private companies. The PAC has today published its report which concludes that companies carrying out the assessments are still failing to meet acceptable performance standards, letting down both claimants and taxpayers.

In 2015 local Citizens Advice helped people with over 30,000 issues around medical assessments for benefits, mostly for Personal Independence Payments and the Employment and Support Allowance. The most common problems are around delays, problems accessing test centres and inaccurate assessments.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Failures by companies delivering health and disability benefit assessments are stopping people from getting the support they need.

“Poor performance by companies carrying out medical assessments means many sick and disabled people are facing issues such as delays, difficulties getting to test centres and assessment outcomes which do not reflect the day to day challenges they face as a result of their health condition.

“For many people who are disabled or living with a long term health condition, benefits such as Personal Independence Payments and the Employment and Support Allowance are essential for everyday living costs as well as the extra expenses they can face. Problems with assessments not only cause unnecessary stress but can also undermine people’s  financial security and jeopardise their ability to stay in or return to work.

“Citizens Advice evidence shows there is a particular problem around assessments for people with fluctuating conditions, such as mental health problems or multiple sclerosis. Companies responsible for health and disability benefit assessments need to make sure their staff have the right levels of training to understand these conditions, in order to reduce numbers of inaccurate assessments.

“The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must also ensure that pressure on volumes of cases does not impact on quality. While it’s good that this has lead to fewer delays we are concerned it has come at the expense of the quality of assessments and the treatment of claimants. The DWP needs to work closely with assessment providers to ensure a swift yet accurate assessment process which primarily delivers for people "

Notes to editors

1. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local Citizens Advice, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
3. To get advice online or find your local Citizens Advice in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk
4. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers.
5. Local Citizens Advice in England and Wales advised 2.5 million clients on 6.2 million problems in 2014/15. For full service statistics see our publication Advice trends.
6. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 21,000 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales.