Tens of thousands of cancer patients say their health has deteriorated while waiting to receive Government financial support Media & PR at Macmillan

People with cancer are seeing their health suffer due to delays to receiving the essential financial support they’re entitled to, as leading cancer charity Macmillan calls on the UK Government to ‘Pay PIP Now’

• Leading cancer charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, is declaring the delays to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ‘a critical situation, which needs bold action to match the scale of the challenge’.
• Warning of the severe impact these delays are having on people living with cancer, the charity is urgently calling for the UK Government to go further and faster to reduce PIP delays and is asking people to support its ‘Pay PIP Now’ campaign by signing a petition calling for the UK Government to cut distressingly long waiting times for PIP down to 12 weeks macmillan.org.uk/pippetition.
• The charity’s money advisers are being forced to treat these delays as the new ‘business as usual’, which the charity says is simply not acceptable. Every day they are hearing from people who are going into debt, skipping meals and delaying or cancelling medical appointments due to travel costs, all because of delays to PIP, which is resulting in their health deteriorating further.
• New figures from the charity show across the UK there are around 250,000 people with cancer (one in 12; 9%) who receive vital financial support from the UK Government via the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefit[i]
• However, the latest PIP waiting times data shows that, on average, people in England and Wales are facing waits of almost five months (18 weeks) to receive the support they’re entitled to[ii], meaning if they were to apply for PIP today, many wouldn’t receive any support until February 2023, with some waiting even longer.
• Macmillan’s latest data shows that among people with cancer who receive PIP, more than one in four (29%) say their physical or mental health has deteriorated while they’ve been waiting to receive the benefit, representing tens of thousands of people — and the figure rises to almost half (46%) of those who had to wait more than 11 weeks to receive their first payment[iii]
• Each week a person’s claim is delayed, those affected can miss out on up to £156.90[iv]. This means missing out on a total of almost £3,000 over the current 18-week average wait. This shortfall comes at a time when people with cancer face potentially catastrophic increases to the cost of living, on top of the existing financial impact that can come from their diagnosis.
• While delayed payments are backdated, the financial impact of cancer is often sudden and unexpected with further research from Macmillan showing that 83% of people with cancer in the UK experience some kind of financial impact from their diagnosis, and for those affected, this reaches an average of £891 a month, on top of their usual expenditure[v].
• So far this year, the expert teams on Macmillan’s Support Line have answered over 150,000 queries from people in need[vi]. This includes more than 34,000 calls from people who need support and advice with welfare benefits specifically — an increase of more than 4,500 calls (15%) compared with the same time last year[vii]. So far in 2022 Macmillan also supported more than 34,000 people with a financial grant[viii]
• Anyone affected by cancer who worried about money is being urged to contact Macmillan’s money advisers on 0808 808 00 00, free of charge, seven days a week. Peer-to-peer support is also available 24 hours a day via the charity’s Online Community and more information about the support available can be found at Macmillan.org.uk

Extended fact box available in the notes to editors.

Storyteller Quote

Kathy, 55, from Salford, was diagnosed with a very rare vaginal cancer in 2020 and then lost her job as a teaching assistant following debilitating side effects of treatment. Following her initial PIP application, Kathy was forced to wait almost a year (11 months) to receive the support she was entitled to.

“I’ve worked all my life and I absolutely loved what I did, so when I received my diagnosis and then became unemployed, I was lost. I was in a situation I never imagined finding myself in. I’ve experienced complex cancer treatment, severe pain, loss of my income and on top of this, my own PIP battle; I was left waiting almost a year to receive the support I needed.

“At a time when I should have been able to focus on my health and recovery, I was forced to have to take on the challenge of fighting to get the help I was entitled to. On top of the delays to receiving support once approved, I was rejected the first time I applied — adding to the delay and causing huge amounts of mental and physical exhaustion having to go through the process of writing my own mandatory reconsideration letter.

“Without the support I now receive through PIP, I don’t know what I would do. PIP means I can get to my appointments, take classes that help with my health and buy good quality food to help with my recovery. It’s unthinkable that people are having to wait as long as they are to get the vital help they need.”

Macmillan Statement

Ciaran Norris, Head of Campaigns and Public Affairs at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“The UK Government must take immediate action to reduce PIP waiting times in England and Wales. It’s unacceptable that people living with cancer are left waiting months on end to receive the financial support they desperately need. We are now in a critical situation, which needs bold action to match the scale of the challenge people are facing. Long waiting times for a benefit which makes the lives of many people living with cancer easier should not be normalised.

“We’re calling for the Government to go further and faster to reduce PIP waiting times to 12 weeks. We want to see an emergency plan for tackling waiting times, with clear expectations for timescales and delivery. This is one of the interventions available to the Government to ease the cost-of-living crisis for disabled people and people with a long-term health condition. It’s vital that people with cancer can get this essential support when they need it most.”

Additional statistics demonstrating the devastating impact of PIP waiting times:

• One in four (24%) of those with cancer on PIP have had to borrow money or use their savings to cover their costs while waiting to receive their payment, or have gotten further into debt[ix]
• One in seven (15%) people with cancer on PIP have had to skip meals or sell personal possessions while waiting to receive their payment, rising to one in four (25%) of those who had to wait more than 11 weeks[x]
• Overall, more than one in three (36%) of those who receive PIP had to wait more than 11 weeks to receive their first payment (26% said 11 weeks or less, while 37% didn’t know or couldn’t remember)[xi]

About PIP

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a non-means tested benefit designed to help with some of the extra costs arising from a health condition or disability.
• Access to PIP helps level the financial playing field between people with a disability who have additional needs and other people in society, enabling them to take part in everyday life and get around. A disproportionate number of those on PIP are on low income.
• PIP quarterly official statistics cover claims administered by the DWP. The waiting time statistic that Macmillan refers to covers England and Wales. There is a separate waiting time statistic for people on PIP in Scotland.
• The Scottish Government introduced Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in March 2022. This replaced PIP for working age adult residents in Scotland.

Further detail on the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis:

• Over half of people with cancer in the UK (54%) see an increase in day-to-day living costs as a result of their diagnosis, and around one in six (17%) see their household fuel bills rise, with the average additional cost for those affected — even without taking recent surges in energy prices into account — reaching £100 a month[xii]

Macmillan’s top benefits tips and how to understand what you’re entitled to:

1. If you are interested in your benefit entitlement, in the first instance you can use an online benefit calculator like the one on the Macmillan website. You should make sure you have to hand you and your partner’s income, any savings, and any outgoing costs, like rent.
2. You may also want to think about events where your household finances might change (for example when will you have to go on to sick pay, and how long will that last). As your income changes, so may your benefit entitlement, so don’t forget to investigate your entitlement going forward too.
3. The benefit system can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with it, with different types of incomes and outgoings treated differently. If you have any questions, please get in touch with one of our Welfare Rights Advisers.
4. Not all benefits are dependent on finances, some depend on your health. Especially for cancer patients, as you start and undergo treatment, you should keep a diary of symptoms or side effects that effect your ability to look after yourself at home. Disability benefit entitlement are for mid-long-term conditions, so it is really useful to know when any difficulties started when you are exploring accessing these types of benefits.
5. If you are provided with a terminal prognosis, you may get an automatic, fast-tracked entitlement to disability benefits. Make sure you speak to your consultant, doctor, cancer nurse or one of our Welfare Rights Advisers for more information if this affects you or a loved one.