Young woman took her own life hours before DWP finally agreed long-delayed PIP claim

A young disabled woman took her own life nine months after submitting an application for a disability benefit, which was finally awarded just hours after she died, an inquiry by a committee of MPs has been told.

The Commons work and pensions committee has been told how the 24-year-old’s claim had been held up for months because of flaws within the application process.

Her mother has told the committee that the “mental health impact” of the “hurdles” in the application process “should not be underestimated”.

Her evidence again raises serious concerns about flaws and delays within the personal independence payment (PIP) system.

The written evidence has been published by the committee as part of its inquiry into “safeguarding vulnerable claimants”.

The young woman’s mother said she believed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was “impeded in monitoring the wellbeing of vulnerable claimants”, although it is not clear from her witness statement how big a part she believes the department’s actions played in her daughter’s death.

She explains how her daughter – who was autistic, with significant experience of mental distress – had already been receiving universal credit when she applied for PIP in April 2022.

But the claim was not decided until 27 January 2023, just hours after she took her own life.

DWP also agreed – after her mother complained – that her out-of-work disability benefit had not been renewed when it should have been.

Her daughter had experienced almost constant anxiety over performing everyday tasks, severe mood swings, and also – for the last 18 months of her life – paranoid delusions and psychosis.

Following her death, DWP identified numerous errors in how her claim had been dealt with, according to the statement.

Her mother had tried to become her daughter’s appointee because she could not cope with the process herself, but – she told the committee – the process “was extremely difficult and protracted and errors have been admitted by DWP”.

She described “excessive wait times”, DWP’s failure to acknowledge documents sent by post, and the “huge delay” in being made her daughter’s appointee which meant she had been unable to advocate on her behalf.

She told the committee: “The huge delay was catastrophic in her case, meaning that her claim was not decided until the day after her death.”

She added: “In my view therefore, there are not sufficient processes in place to ensure that full awards are provided to vulnerable claimants.”

Disability News Service had not been able to verify details of the case with DWP or the committee by noon today (Thursday).

But the account is just one of the personal written testimonies sent to the committee, and now published on its website.

Another claimant with mental distress and an eating disorder told the committee in her written statement that she had lost a stone in weight because of her struggles with universal credit.

This included being unfairly sanctioned three times – which took two years and the help of her MP to remove – and had found it “impossible to get help and support”.

She wrote: “I feel like I have no future and everything has been taken away.

“In my case there was no safeguarding or support. I could not find one person in the DWP who would even talk to me.”

She said the current system was “literally killing people” through the “brutality of the system, the bullying and abuse”, while messages through the universal credit online journal “can be completely ignored” by DWP.

She said dealing with DWP was “frustrating, soul destroying” and “sucks the life out of you”.

A third claimant told the committee: “My recent claim for Pip took almost 2 years and left me suicidal.

“The DWP is vile, cares nothing for claimants, and offered me no help whatsoever even though I have severe mental illness.

“I didn’t even know they had any kind of safeguarding policies, yet alone been offered anything… too many thousands have died already, and no, they don’t currently offer any support to claimants that I know of.”

Disability Rights UK, which based its written statement on investigative work by Disability News Service, said that that evidence “shows that the welfare and safety of Disabled people in the hands of DWP is not guaranteed”.

Among other recommendations, it called for a public inquiry to “learn the truth about what has happened in cases of benefit related deaths and serious harm”.

Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich Mind told the committee in its statement: “Every week we see cases where our clients have ended up in unsafe situations because their benefits have stopped, and they have been too unwell to engage with the process of trying to get them reinstated.”

In its nine-page statement to the committee, DWP said it welcomed the inquiry.

It said: “Our overarching mission is to improve the day-to-day lives of our citizens and help them to build a secure and prosperous future, while supporting the most vulnerable.

“This intention connects the many different services, programmes, and support that the department provides across the country.

“In a challenging year when families have been feeling the pressure from cost of living increases, DWP has been at the forefront of delivering vital support at an impressive pace and scale, providing Cost of Living Payments to over seven million low-income householders, with millions of additional payments going to pensioners and disabled people.”

It added: “In this evidence submission, the department sets out the measures in place to support vulnerable claimants, how the department is developing as a learning organisation to improve and transform services for all benefit claimants as well as improving trust and transparency.”

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