At the same time, the Timms Review has raised the prospect of wider changes to the PIP system. Its interim report found that the current process was not “fit for purpose”, while campaigners have called for unnecessary reassessments to be removed for people whose conditions are unlikely to improve.
Award Rates Fall as Claim Volumes Remain High
According to DWP statistics, fewer than 45 per cent of new claims that had completed an assessment received an award in the three months to April 2026. That was down from 50 per cent in April 2025. Across all new PIP claims, the success rate was 37 per cent. The equivalent figure in April 2025 was 43 per cent. The figures indicate that a smaller share of claimants received an award than during the same point a year earlier.
The data also recorded 250,000 registrations for new claims and 240,000 clearances. A clearance refers to a claim that has reached an outcome, while registrations represent claims entering the system. Changes of circumstance also produced a difference between registrations and completed cases. There were 38,000 reported changes of circumstance, but 31,000 were cleared.
For Disability Living Allowance reassessments, the figures showed 24,000 registrations and 23,000 clearances. Planned award reviews accounted for a larger volume, with 130,000 reviews registered and 120,000 cleared. These figures cover several parts of the benefits assessment system rather than new claims alone. They show that planned reviews, changes of circumstance and DLA reassessments were all being processed alongside new applications during the same reporting period.
Timms Review Considers Changes to Repeated Assessments
The latest figures were published after the Timms Review filed its interim report in July 2026. According to the review, PIP was not “fit for purpose” and required major changes. The review is being led by Sir Stephen Timms. Its findings have prompted renewed calls from disability organisations for a system that places less pressure on people with long-term or fluctuating health conditions.
Charlotte Gill, head of campaigns at the MS Society, said the interim report confirmed concerns that disabled people had raised for years. She described the current PIP process as “stressful and exhausting”. Gill said people with multiple sclerosis had shared their experiences with the review and had called for an approach based on “fairness, dignity and respect”. She also said the system should recognise symptoms that may be invisible or fluctuate over time.
According to the MS Society, more than 150,000 people live with MS in the UK, with most receiving a diagnosis in their thirties or forties. Gill said the review represented an opportunity to end unnecessary reassessments and create a system that worked more effectively for claimants.
She also argued that disabled people should continue to be involved in the next stages of the process. Her comments focused on the need for the review to listen to those directly affected as it considers how PIP assessments and reassessments should operate in future.
