Anyone else worried about losing PIP if the government switch to vouchers?

[ThinkSkint]

I'm renting and my pip is counted towards my eligibility.

I can't rely on any goodwill from my landlord as they are also medically retired and living off help such as PIP to pay their own bills, so will likely have to sell and lose their own home too.

I realise PIP is meant to be just for help with living with the disability rather than paying actual living costs but this is what it's come to at such financially difficult times with the cost of living. When I was divorced the judge said pip has to be counted as my income like everyone else, even though the government website clearly states otherwise.

But won't this be typical of many households up and down the country? And if that is the case, what's going to happen? I'm actually quite afraid for everyone, not least myself.

yep im concerned and last year got a 6yr award for pip and that has really helped in so many ways i will be so much worse off like many if they went to vouchers

but i cant really see them changing to vouchers it sounds un workable and surely they cant just stop your pip

the welfare bill is growingi think they may make the process more difficult and stringent and they may tinker with new applications and review

i know some will say its hard to get but in my experience if you have the evidence etc its pretty straight forward,so no i dont think we will see a full voucher roll out

i also think all the public back lash could go in our favour as they misjudged the taking away the pensioners heating allowance it wont be good for labour punishing the disabled now which some will also be pensioners that have already lost the WFA,they wont want to be seen as punishing the disabled as well

just trying to be positive

No govt will intro a voucher system. The administrative burden would be too massive, esp at a time when they’re looking for cost savings.

Thank you for your replies. I'm sorry you're in the same situation but your hopefulness has been infectious and I needed a bit of that!

It would absolutely disastrous for me and my dh if they bring in vouchers for PIP claimants. I also wonder what would happen to carers, as I only get carers allowance because my dh is in receipt of PIP.

I can't see what the vouchers would cover. If they were to give fuel vouchers for example then surely you would just re-direct the funds you allocate for gas and electric to whatever you would normally spend it on. Vouchers for Medical supplies would be the same although probably limited to purchasing from specific companies.
It might work for new claimants if they need equipment but many PIP claimants will most likely have already installed specialist equipment and you wouldn't need to buy that again. Sounds like a logistical expensive nightmare for the government - I don't think it would work somehow.

Our problem is that, as my dh gets pip for mainly mental health issues (Psychosis, GAD, severe depression), we don't need vouchers for medical equipment. We use the pip to make his life easier in other ways. It enables us to have the heating on and, as he's practically housebound, we have very high utilities bills. It also pays for us to have weekly Grocery deliveries, mobile chiropodist, hairdresser, window cleaner etc It pays for occasional taxis to appointments as he can't face public transport. It pays for our TV licence etc as the TV is about the only pleasure he has in life. We aren't "spongers", we've both worked full time, paying tax and NI, for over 35 years. My dh is under the care of the local CMHT and has weekly respite care provided by the council. What kind of vouchers do you think they'd give us? The pip gets used to make his life easier and, admittedly, it is a major help towards just everyday living costs that we'd struggle to pay as he can't work and neither can I as I'm his full time carer. What do other people who claim pip for mental health issues spend it on and what kind of vouchers do you think they would issue in place of the money? I wondered if there would be vouchers for therapy. The problem with this is, who would decide what type of therapy and would there be enough therapists available?

I use mine for things like taxis so I can go out as bus stops are a long way away. I use a bit towards bills as it let me cut my work hours a little as I was off sick all the time at full time.

I am sure we aren't the only ones. Vouchers would be a nightmare as everyone needs different things due to different disabilities. Fuel vouchers would be no use to me at all for example.

It would plunge some disabled people into poverty. It would also be ridiculously expensive to administer and unpopular.

@BarbedButterfly Yes, we are the same, it helps with just everyday living costs as my dh can no longer work (I'm aware it's not a benefit relating to whether you can work or not). Along with carers allowance, which is dependant upon receipt of PIP, it enables me to be his full time carer. He's had a social care assessment carried out by the local council and it's taken absolutely ages for them to provide just 2 hours of respite care per week, even though he's been assessed as needing 24 hour care, if vouchers were provided to employ carers then goodness knows how long it would take to sort it all out. I just pray that this voucher idea does not go ahead!

Vouchers were part of plan to reform PIP put forward under the previous administration.

Do we know what the current regimes plans are for both this and reform to the Work Capability Assessment in UC/ESA?

It was the Conservatives who came up with the ridiculous idea of vouchers. Labour has not mentioned anything about going ahead with that scheme. Why worry about something that may never happen? I will concern myself with it, when I know for a fact that it is happening.

They won’t. It’s too expensive to administer and too cumbersome to bother with. If it was that simple, it would have been done when Iain Duncan Smith decided to revolutionise the whole thing. It wasn’t because it was inpractical. 🙂

I use mine for a motability car and it’s so useful. I’ll never be able to drive due to my disability so DH is the driver. Hopefully things keep on as they are.

Nothing has been confirmed about vouchers, but changes to the WCA are due from next year for new claimants.
LCWRA will be replaced by a new "Health Element" which only people on PIP can get... which is ridiculous, and worrying (I am on LCWRA but not PIP).

Do you have a source for that re WCA and PIP?

Not saying you're wrong; just making sure I'm on same page.

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/dwp-announces-major-wca-changes-new-esa-and-uc-claimants-2025

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/what-is-the-uc-health-element

I very much doubt that it could ever happen. If they’re saying that means-testing WFA would cost more than it saves, I can’t imagine them going through every claimant’s needs each month and allocating a certain amount of vouchers for therapy, or incontinence pads, or a cleaner for example. Surely everyone’s costs would vary from month to month? There’s no chance that they could administrate that.

It depends. Where can you use the vouchers?

I think getting rid of the WFA was a clever tactic to see how outraged the general public would get. I saw a guy talking about how going after a group seen as vulnerable was all about the message it sent. I did not agree with the allowance being removed. I have zero skin in the game as none of this affects me as I don’t receive it nor PIP. I think the public’s response has been mixed on WFA, there haven’t been the levels of outrage that I would have expected.

I don’t know if any of you know much about the American welfare system but they give out food stamps. I think if the UK ever went down any kind of voucher route for any benefit it would be for food and heating. Whilst I understand PIP is around extra help and it varies very much for each person they would use the argument that heating and food are necessary for every single person, not saying I agree with that but that’s an argument that would hold some weight with the general public as everyone needs both of those things.

Was legislation for that change passed before the election?

Interesting thought about food vouchers. It would only work if you can buy from places of your own choice, rather than places like my bank who keep advertising I can get cashback over certain purchases only in designated shops (usually 3 times more expensive than I can afford and so it's no use to me!).

In a way, because we all have to buy food, that might actually work better than vouchers for carers who are not always necessary for everyone, and certainly hard to come by for those who do find the necessary. But food vouchers would only work for a family who spend hundreds each month. For a single person, who doesn't spend as much, then it's a less fair exchange. Also, they haven't talked about vouchers for food, so it sounds more like equipment, for which they've talked about even sharing costs rather than picking up the full tab like they would with pip payments.

it will restrict me because there are times I can’t mobilise and need a taxi, or can’t cook and need a takeaway. These have become luxuries that I can ill afford and without any pip at all will be a real problem.

So many people will lose their homes over this if it happens. I for one, in my divorce, had PIP counted as my income - a so called 'income' that can't be replaced like someone losing a job could, so it's not at all like the judge viewed it. And it's an accepted practice apparently, which is quite shocking, as the gov website itself says it's not for normal bills but for additional hardship linked to the health problem.

Think this is going to be discussed by government on 7th October, hope we will get some answers then.

I'll admit that I am not sure... but we are soon to find out after next week.

well i for one am glad we may have some news soon and after thinking about it nobody is going to be able to just say all claimants were stopping all cash payments from next week are they

Nope. If it did change, it would take years to do so anyway.