Department for Work and Pensions’ ‘offers to settle’ policy
The Public Law Project is representing a client bringing a systemic challenge to the DWP’s ‘offer to settle’ policy. We’re putting a call out to our members to share experiences of this process.
The process involves the DWP contacting Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants after Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) but before appeal. Many claimants have understood that the DWP will only increase their award if they agree to withdraw their appeal. The DWP call this their ‘lapsing policy’ and are defending the claim. Many claimants have been told that the ‘offer’ of the increased award will only be available for a certain amount of time. Many are only told about their appeal rights against the new increased offer if they accept it and agree to withdraw their appeal.
The case will appear before the High Court in July and we are supporting a call to capture experiences of this process since September 2020 to present. In August of last year, the DWP updated guidance on this process, however, there are concerns these practices are ongoing.
If you, or someone close to you has experienced this process since September 2020 and you’d be happy to talk further, please contact Policy Officer Mary at mary.sadid@nsun.org.uk. Contributions can be made anonymously.
It would be useful to know (from The Public Law Project):
- Date of the offer
- Whether the offer was made to the claimant directly or their representative
- Was the offer made fair? Was it the right amount? How did it make them feel?
- Was it accepted?
- Was the claimant advised on their right to appeal the offer or revised award?