More than 300 disabled people in South Lakeland have taken the Government to tribunal over benefit payments and nearly two-thirds won, figures show.
Between April 2013 and the end of 2020, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) assessed 4,500 applications for Personal Independence Payment from people in the area – 71 per cent resulted in an award being granted.
The benefit covers the additional expenses faced by those with disabilities and is worth between £23 and £150 a week, depending on an individual's needs.
The application process sees most claimants meet with a DWP assessor who evaluates their care and mobility.
If the applicant is unhappy with the outcome, a mandatory reconsideration can be requested, which sees the DWP review the decision.
In South Lakeland, around a fifth of awards taken to that first appeal stage were changed.
Since 2013, 320 people have escalated their cases further and challenged the DWP at a tribunal, with an independent panel overturning the Government's decision in 160 (64 per cent) of those cases.
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