Sam Hilton was left waiting nine months for a decision on their personal independence payment (PIP) claim, a delay they say left them feeling “anxious” and “overwhelmed”.
The 34-year-old lives in a residential care home in Wirral, Merseyside, that supports people with mental health difficulties.
Although the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) say it aims to process claims as quickly as possible, Sam did not receive a response until December after submitting a review in March 2025.
Sam has been on universal credit (UC) since 2018 and began claiming PIP in 2020. Following their PIP award, they were later assessed as having limited capability for work under UC, around 2022.
During that period, they continued receiving the daily living component of PIP, but the uncertainty of whether they would get the enhanced rate, which pays more money, took a toll.
Their financial situation worsened after a severe gambling addiction left them £29,000 in debt.
“I would take credit out on everything – it was too easy,” they said. “I even took out phone contracts just to sell the phone so I could gamble.
“That meant I couldn’t pay my rent. Everything mounted up and I had a breakdown. I realised I had to do something because I didn’t want to lose my place in the care home.”
Sam pays £595 a month in rent and initially struggled to manage rising costs alongside debt repayments.
Before June 2025, their monthly income totalled £1,215.10 – £773.50 from UC and £441.60 from PIP.
With £450 going towards debt repayments each month, alongside essential bills such as rent, phone, gym, and basic subscriptions, they were left with just £57.11.
They have been unable to work as a result of their mental health difficulties.
In June 2025, Sam entered a Debt Relief Order (DRO), which pauses debt repayments for one year, after which most debts are written off, through Money Wellness, which cleared their debts and significantly eased the financial pressure.
“Before that, I was swamped trying to keep up with everything and was really struggling,” they said. “As soon as my debts were written off, things became much more manageable.”
Later that year, in December 2025, Sam’s PIP review was completed. They were awarded both the daily living and mobility components, increasing their payment by £77.05 per week. Their total monthly income rose to £1,523.30, with no longer any debt repayments to make.
But Sam said the application process itself was a barrier. When they first applied for UC in March last year, they found the form confusing and felt unsupported. “I didn’t know who to turn to for help,” they said.
Sam is now debt free after entering into a Debt Relief Order through Money WellnessThe DWP aims to make decisions about new PIP claims within 15 weeks from an application being made. They aim to process 75 per cent of new claims within this timeframe.
But many decisions are taking longer than these targets, with only half of new claims processed within 15 weeks in 2025-25, according to Citizens Advice.
This is due to a backlog of new applications, reviews of existing awards to check whether people’s needs have changed and challenges to award decisions.
The department would not confirm the clearance times or targets for reviews of PIP.
Sam continued: “Waiting to receive my decision really affected me. I only got one text in the whole time I was waiting.
“I got very anxious and overwhelmed as I didn’t know what was going on. If I rang, the automated message just said wait basically and I was too scared to speak to an adviser as the automated message was quite aggressive, so I was too scared to ring.
“When I did get the letter, the mobility side wasn’t backdated to when I filled the form out. I was confused but I couldn’t ring as I was too anxious.”
From 6 April 2026, PIP rates in the UK will increase by 3.8 per cent in line with inflation. There are two components: daily living and enhanced.
Weekly rates will rise to £76.70 for standard daily living and £114.60 for enhanced, while mobility components rise to £30.30 and £80 respectively. This brings the maximum weekly payment to £194.60.Some 3.93 million people in England and Wales were claiming PIP in January 2026, the latest official data shows. This is up by 233,080, or 6 per cent, from 3.69million a year earlier.
The number of claimants has almost doubled since comparable figures began seven years ago in January 2019, when the total stood at 2.05 million.
Since receiving the enhanced rate for both benefits, Sam said they can pay for their care home “easily” and feel “secure financially”.
“I can comfortably say yes to doing things with friends and family. This might be as simple as going to a pub for a meal, but I don’t have to think ‘eek, I don’t have money’.
“My mental health has improved knowing I don’t have to worry about finances anymore.”
Sam leaves themselves with a personal budget of £30 a week from the money they get from UC. The PIP pays for their recreational activities.
“I don’t trust the system, as I’m always thinking they are going to take money off me somewhere or somehow.
“The debt from gambling has really punted my mental health. I was scared I was going to be on the street as I didn’t pay my rent.
“Overall, I wish it was easier to talk to the DWP. My mental health doesn’t seem important to a lot of phone operators. It’s like being grilled from the very start and I shut down and hang up.”
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “We always aim to make benefits award decisions as quickly as possible, and as of October 2025, nearly 90 per cent of new UC claimants received all their payments on time.
“We have also launched the Timms Review, co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations, to make sure PIP is fit and fair for the future, and last week opened a Call for Evidence for people to share their views on how PIP should be reformed.”
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