Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2019 to Question 209781, Personal Independence Payment: Terminal Illnesses, how many claimants who registered under special rules for terminal illness over a year after being disallowed at initial decision under normal rules died within (a) three months and (b) six months of their registration.

Between April 2013 and October 2018, 2,840 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims were registered under Special Rules for Terminally Ill people (SRTI) by claimants at least 12 months after they had previously been disallowed at initial decision under normal rules. To put this into context, over 4 million applications to PIP were made between April 2013 and 31^st October 2018.

The table below shows the number of these PIP claimants who died within 3 months or within 6 months of their SRTI registration between April 2013 and 30^th April 2019.

Table 1: Number of Claimants who died after their Special Rules for The Terminally Ill registration which took place at least 12 months after a Normal Rules initial disallowance

Source: PIP ADS and Customer Information System

Notes:

• These figures include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.
• By definition the less than 3 months’ figure is included in the less than 6 months’ figure.
• These figures include claimants whose case was disallowed at initial decision under Normal rules who then went on to make a subsequent claim under SRTi at least 12 months later. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP.
• Only the closest subsequent registration is counted. For example, a claimant may have made more than one subsequent claim under SRTI. In such a case, only the closest subsequent registration is counted in this data.
• Only the closest initial clearance is counted. For example, a claimant may have had multiple disallowances under Normal Rules for different claims. In such a case, only the closest initial disallowance to the subsequent registration is counted in this data.
• The point of application is taken as the day the claimant registered a claim to PIP as recorded on the PIP computer system.
• This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
• Data is as recorded on the PIP Computer System.
• Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
• Figures cover Special Rules registrations made up to and including 31^st October 2018 and claimant deaths up to 30^th April 2019.
• GB only.

Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.