The UK government has changed its sickness benefit rules after cases emerged of people continuing to receive payments for years despite reporting that they had recovered and no longer needed financial support.
DWP Changes Rules After Years of Unnecessary Payments
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will now stop certain sickness-related benefits sooner when claimants report that their circumstances have changed.
According to GB News, the decision follows an investigation by The Times that exposed lengthy delays in the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) system. Some recipients who had recovered from serious illnesses were unable to have their benefit awards adjusted without undergoing another formal assessment.
Previously, claimants could remain on sickness-related benefits for months or years while waiting for reassessment, even after telling officials they were ready to return to work.
The revised approach aims to prevent these payments from continuing unnecessarily.
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A Taxi Driver Who Could Not Stop His Benefits
One case highlighted by The Times involved Gavin, a taxi driver who began receiving long-term sickness benefits after undergoing open-heart surgery.
Once his health improved, he contacted the DWP to explain that he was fit enough to work again and no longer needed the payments.
Instead of ending his award, officials reportedly told him that his case could not be changed until another assessment had taken place.
“I was told that they couldn’t change themselves, they couldn’t alter my award claim. I had to wait until I was reassessed which I found pretty peculiar. There was no date,” Gavin said.
Despite informing the department of his recovery, Gavin continued receiving benefits for three years.
He described feeling that he had no alternative but to accept the payments while waiting for officials to act.
His experience had previously featured in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, where he also described contacting the department after recovering from surgery.
The case illustrates how administrative delays could prevent claimants from ending sickness-related awards even when they actively requested a change.
Nearly 1.8 Million Claimants Awaited Reassessment
The problems extend beyond individual cases.
Approximately 1.8 million claimants were reportedly waiting for reassessments, with an average delay of two years. One person was said to have waited 16 years for a review.
The backlog has been linked partly to the suspension of reassessments during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The assessment process was not fully restored afterward, leaving large numbers of people awaiting decisions about their eligibility.
These delays also meant that benefit awards could remain unchanged despite significant improvements or deterioration in a recipient’s health.
The figures raise questions about the department’s ability to maintain accurate benefit records and respond promptly when claimants report changes.
Government Acknowledges Assessment System Failures
The DWP has acknowledged wider problems with the assessment system and confirmed plans to reform health and disability benefits.
A department spokesman said: “We’ve been clear that the Work Capability Assessment is not working.
“That’s why we will bring forward proposals for reforming the health and disability benefits system as part of a proper plan to genuinely support disabled people into work and, in turn, bring down the benefits bill.”
The changes to payment procedures address one aspect of a much larger administrative problem.
While the new rules allow certain payments to stop sooner, the government has also committed to broader reforms intended to improve employment support for disabled people and reduce welfare spending.
The reported reassessment backlog stood at approximately 1.8 million claimants, with an average wait of two years.
