Thousands of people in the county will be affected by the sweeping changes to disability benefits that begin to come into force from this week, when Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be replaced by the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). There are currently over 8,900 people claiming DLA in the Fermanagh and Omagh district area. 

While people can still apply for DLA up until this Friday, after the weekend all new adult applicants will be sent PIP applications. DLA will continue to exist for new and existing claimants to the age of 16, and for existing claimants over the age of 65, but from December all those aged 16-64 who are currently receiving DLA will be invited randomly to be assessed under the new system. 

Manager of Fermanagh Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Siobhan Peoples, said “we’ll have to wait and see how it goes” with some people likely to fare better than others under the new system, but also expressed concerns about PIP, which has already been in effect in the rest of the UK for some time but was introduced later in the North due to the delay passing welfare reform at Stormont. 

For example, people will have to be living in the UK for two out of the past three years to be entitled for to PIP. 

“This can also apply to people from Fermanagh who went to US or Australia, for example, and had to come back home due to ill health or some other reason,” said Ms Peoples. “It means people who were born and reared here but who went abroad for a few years, thinking they were doing the right thing, and have to return because something bad has happened may not be entitled to it.”

Ms Peoples also expressed apprehension about the new way in which claimants will be assessed for the benefit. 

“Previously, people’s own GP would have sent in a medical report, but now it will all be done by an outside company, Captia,” she said. “Most of these assessments will now be done outside people’s homes, by someone who knows nothing about you.” 

Referring to concerns raised by investigative documentaries into Capita Health and Wellbeing, who are already operating as assessors of PIP elsewhere in the UK, Ms Peoples said: “All we want is for them to treat people with respect and for it to be a fair process.”