Make disability benefits fairer
People with Parkinson's rely on financial support to stay independent and in control. Working with the Parkinson's community, we're campaigning to make sure the system is fair.
Disability benefit reviews and reassessments are suspended. This temporary measure is to ensure that benefits continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
To find out more, visit the GOV.UK website.
What we believe
There are a variety of benefits that people may be entitled to when they have Parkinson's or care for someone with the condition. This can vary according to whether you're working or retired.
We want to see a system that enables people with Parkinson's to maintain their wellbeing and independence. That's whether you're receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Attendance Allowance or Universal Credit.
We're campaigning to:
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make sure benefits assessments are conducted sensitively and by assessors who understand Parkinson's, so that people get the right support first time
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scrap the 20 metre rule for PIP, so more people with Parkinson's who have mobility problems can qualify for essential support
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revise the ESA assessment, to make sure it fully captures the impact of Parkinson's on a person's ability to work
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make sure Universal Credit works for disabled people. We want to see a disability element added to Universal Credit, the right to appeal against a claimant commitment, a specialist disabled claim line, and proper disability awareness training for DWP staff
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reduce waiting times for benefit appeals.
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Need help? Want to get involved?
Our team of trained advisers can provide information and advice about employment and benefits.
If you've had a negative experience of claiming benefits we'd like to know. Your personal experience can be used to bring attention to the broken benefits system.
If you need advice on disability benefits and how to claim them, read our information pages.
If you're applying for benefits, complete our disability benefits diary to tell us your story.
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Janet's story
We campaign to help people like Janet. Janet has Parkinson's and relies on her specially built car to help her get around.
When her mobility allowance was stopped, she thought she might lose her car.
We're fighting to stop cuts like these.
Hear about Janet's experience in our short video.
People on disability benefits are losing out
We worked together with the Disability Benefits Consortium to look at the cumulative impact of the changes made to disability benefits.
We're deeply concerned to see how the safety net for disabled people has been eroded. Too many people with Parkinson's are finding themselves left without adequate financial support.
This is why we're campaigning for a fairer disability benefits system. From Universal Credit to Personal Independence Payment. We want to see a system that is fairer, less complicated and gives people the support they need.
Download Has welfare become unfair? (PDF, 15.11MB).
Join our Campaigns Network
Join our movement of over 12,000 people. We'll send you updates about our work, including our campaigns to make disability benefits fairer.
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