Benefit exam exemptions — guidance for GPs & others

Healthcare Professionals in Solidarity

Read our leaflets with guidance for professionals on the rules you can quote in letters and reports, for your patient or client to be exempted from the face-to-face exams:

ESA or Universal Credit — read or download and print here

PIP Personal Independence Payment — read or download and print here

  • Based on the latest September 2019 PIP guidance to assessors issued by the DWP on exemption where: “there is strong evidence on which to advise on the case and a face-to-face consultation is likely to be stressful for the claimant” or where “someone has difficulty dealing with procedural demands” in circumstances such as “a previous suicide attempt, domestic violence, abuse or bereavement.”

Please share and pass on to your contacts.  (Updated September 2019)

And, since September 2017, ESA and UC claimants in the Support Group will no longer
need to be reassessed if they:
? have a severe, lifelong disability, illness or health condition
? are unlikely to ever be able to move into work
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/benefit-reassessments-stopped-for-those-most-inneed

As far as we know, there is no active scheme reaching out to disabled claimants to give permanent exemption from reassessments — you need to write to the DWP about your case, and ask your MP for back-up.

Compiled by women with direct personal and casework experience, with crucial input from mental health and welfare rights professionals.  Thanks to the women and staff from Drayton Park Women’s Crisis House and other volunteers who contributed.

9 thoughts on “Benefit exam exemptions — guidance for GPs & others”

  1. Hi all, we’ve updated the info on where to send in letters about exemption from the PIP exam, or other further evidence — we checked with the DWP complaints team.

    Reply
    • Dear friends at ECAP, glad to know you are winning exemptions, also this is what we do all the time with disabled women. Our leaflet is aimed at GPs for patients to hand to the doctor. It was specifically written to health professionals to inform them about the exemption rules. We did it because they didn’t know about the rules and they were writing support letters simply confirming people’s ill-health or inability to do waged work, not about exemption from face-to-face interviews. We had input from NHS professionals — who co-wrote the leaflet addressing it to their colleagues.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: