A leading UK charity has condemned the UK Government's "broken" disability benefit system, claiming the assessment process "is having a devastating impact" on people with disabilities.
Parkinson's UK says people living with the condition are seeing the level of Support they receive downgraded when reassessed for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), which is replacing Disability Living Allowance for disabled adults and those with long-term health conditions.
DLA helped people manage the extra costs associated with having a disability or a long-term health problem and at the highest rates, enabled those people to lease a car.
But the charity says some people with Parkinson's are struggling to attain the highest levels of support under PIP, resulting in reduced benefits and independence, despite having received the highest support when claiming DLA.
"I have a long-term degenerative condition, it is not going to get better but the DWP have downgraded my support", said one person with Parkinson's.
Parkinson's UK has now launched a petition, calling on the UK Government to "get a grip on PIP" and "protect people with Parkinson’s from losing this vital support by automatically transferring them to PIP if they currently receive high-rate or long-term DLA awards".
Senior Policy and Campaigns Adviser Phil Reynolds said:
"Losing access to financial support due to the broken PIP assessment process is having a devastating impact on people with Parkinson's.
"It's crucial that the UK Government protects people from the risk of losing this lifeline by passporting them over to PIP if they have Parkinson’s and got the highest rates of DLA."
Nearly 18,000 people had signed the petition at the time this article was published.
You can add your own name to the petition here.
Welfare Weekly update.
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