Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Tribunals statistics quarterly; October to December 2024 report, published 13 March 2025, if he will make an assessment of trends in the number of PIP appeals overturned in favour of the claimant.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
The PIP appeal overturn rate is 67%. It has remained stable around this rate since the second quarter of 2021/22.
For initial decisions between October 2019 and September 2024 (the latest 5-year period), 3.3 million initial decisions following a PIP assessment have been made and, by December 2024, 4% have been cleared at tribunal hearing and 3% have been overturned at a tribunal hearing.
It is our aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. To support this, we have made improvements to our decision-making processes to help ensure people get the support they are entitled to without needing to appeal. This includes giving Decision Makers additional time to proactively contact customers if they think additional evidence may support the claim.
We recognise that the overturn rate at appeal is high. This is why we are continuing to learn from appeal outcomes. We regularly gather feedback on appeals from Presenting Officers who attend tribunals.
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