Disabled people face a complicated appeals process if they are refused their benefit after an assessment, which they say can lead to worsening health conditions and suicidal feelings
Disabled people are “set up to fail” by a “soul-destroying” disability benefits system which is target-driven and designed “to catch people out”, according to former disability assessors who have spoken exclusively to The Big Issue.
The trained healthcare professionals claimed there is pressure to “ramp up numbers” with little empathy for vulnerable claimants, leading to people refused support or facing a distressing appeals process. One claimant said it drove him to “severe psychological distress to the point of being suicidal”.
“It is run as a business,” one former assessor told The Big Issue. “It is not run to help people. As long as it’s run like that, nothing will change. It will remain target-driven. It will remain profit-based. It is not putting the best interest of the people using the system at its heart.”
A person with a disability or mental health condition can apply for the personal independence payment (PIP) benefit to help with their living costs, if they pass assessments carried out by private contractors on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
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