{"id":60379,"date":"2024-11-08T17:09:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T17:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?page_id=60379"},"modified":"2026-04-02T15:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:08:30","slug":"half-of-disabled-people-humiliated-during-benefits-assessments-new-research-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/press-releases\/welfare\/half-of-disabled-people-humiliated-during-benefits-assessments-new-research-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of disabled people \u2018humiliated\u2019 during benefits assessments, new research finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-secondary-bullets\">\n<li>New research by the national disability charity Sense reveals the toll the current benefits process takes on disabled people\u2019s health and wellbeing, with more than half (51%) feeling humiliated during their benefits assessment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nearly half (45%) say applying for benefits has made their disability or condition worse<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sense says its research lays bare \u2018serious flaws\u2019 at the heart of the UK welfare system and has launched <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/about-us\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/putting-disabled-people-at-the-heart-of-the-benefits-system\/\">a Benefits Charter<\/a> calling for a fairer benefits system for disabled people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Charlotte stands in her kitchen\" class=\"wp-image-60380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte-1600x900.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Charlotte.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pictured: Charlotte Easton, 40, from Broxbourne. Despite being blind, Charlotte received information about her benefits decisions in a letter she couldn\u2019t read.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9 October 2024<\/strong> &#8211; The national disability charity Sense has today called for a benefits system that treats disabled people with dignity, after its new research* found half (51%) of disabled people feel humiliated during benefits assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sense\u2019s research lays bare the huge toll the current benefit system takes on disabled people. Over half (58%) of the 1,000 disabled people polled by Sense felt scared before their benefits assessment, and shockingly almost half (45%) said going through the benefits process made the symptoms of their condition worse. Sense\u2019s research focuses on the experiences of people with complex disabilities** who tend to have multiple disabilities and higher support needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people with complex disabilities also flagged issues with the accessibility of the process. Four in ten people (43%) said they had been repeatedly contacted in a format that doesn\u2019t meet their needs, despite telling the Department of Work and Pensions how they should be contacted. The charity says its findings make clear that the benefits assessment process is not working for millions of disabled people in the UK, and is in urgent need of reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sense says the problems don\u2019t end once a person has been assessed for benefits, as many current benefits are set too low and do not allow disabled people to live with dignity. Half (51%) of those polled say the money they receive isn\u2019t enough to cover the extra costs they face due to being disabled, which can include increased energy bills for medical machinery \u2013 more than a third (37%) surveyed are behind on their energy bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sense is urging the new government to make major reforms to the benefit system in light of these findings. The charity is calling for the Government to put these five key principles at the heart of the benefits system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. A fully accessible, co-produced system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. An application process that makes it as simple as possible for disabled people to claim the support they need<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Benefits rates that allow disabled people to afford the essentials and have a decent standard of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Support for disabled jobseekers to enter work<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Recognition of the role of the benefits system in enabling people to live independently<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Richard Kramer, Chief Executive at the charity Sense, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur research has exposed serious flaws with the benefits system \u2013 which disabled people are paying the price for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is unacceptable that people with complex disabilities are feeling humiliated and scared, and having their condition deteriorate because of their benefits assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe government needs to build a benefits system that affords people dignity, leads to accurate decisions and gives people the money they need to afford the essentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe hope the government will listen to Sense\u2019s key recommendations, which if implemented we believe will significantly improve disabled peoples\u2019 experiences of applying for and being awarded benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Charlotte said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy assessment for PIP [Personal Independent Payment] was over the phone and then they sent the paperwork through in print, which means I couldn\u2019t review it. My mum read it to me and there were lots of things recorded that weren\u2019t as I remembered them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor ESA [Employment Support Allowance] I had the assessment in person, and they asked how I got there. My mum said we\u2019d gone by train, and she\u2019d had to guide me and make sure people didn\u2019t bump into me and all those sorts of things, but they still said I was able to travel independently and so didn\u2019t need ESA. I need assistance to get from A to B, and just because I have people like my mum who are willing to help and will always help me when they can, it doesn\u2019t mean I want to be dependent on them all of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notes to editor:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>*The research was conducted by Censuswide, on behalf of Sense, who surveyed 1,001 people with complex disabilities receiving benefits across the UK between 24 May and 30 May 2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>**People with complex disabilities tend to have multiple disabilities that make it harder for them to learn new skills, communicate or live independently. There are 1.6million people with complex disabilities living in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>9 October 2024 &#8211; Sense has called for a benefits system that treats disabled people with dignity, after its new research found half (51%) of disabled people feel humiliated during benefits assessments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":60380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"display_author":[],"class_list":["post-60379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-welfare"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60379"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=60379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}