Equality Act and PIP: your rights and reasonable adjustments.

In short: The Equality Act 2010 makes the DWP and its assessment providers adjust the PIP process so your condition doesn’t put you at a disadvantage, and makes the DWP consider disabled people in everything it does. The EHRC opened a formal investigation into the DWP in May 2024.

The Equality Act 2010 is the main anti-discrimination law in England, Scotland and Wales. Under section 6, you’re classed as disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

“Long-term” means lasting, or likely to last, at least 12 months. “Substantial” means more than minor or trivial. And some conditions (cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and certified visual impairment) are automatically covered whatever their current effect on you.

So what does this have to do with PIP?

The DWP must follow the Equality Act

The DWP is a public body. That means two separate legal duties apply when you claim PIP:

The duty to make reasonable adjustments (sections 20 and 21 of the Act). If the standard assessment process would put you at a substantial disadvantage, say because you can’t travel to an assessment centre or you need a BSL interpreter, the DWP and its assessment providers must adjust the process for you. Failing to do so is discrimination.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (section 149). The DWP must actively consider how its policies affect disabled people. Avoiding discrimination isn’t enough: it is supposed to think about equality in everything it does, from designing the PIP2 form to training assessors.

The EHRC investigation: a live issue

These aren’t just theoretical protections. In May 2024 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the body that enforces the Equality Act, launched a formal investigation into the DWP, one of the strongest enforcement powers it has.

The investigation looks at whether the DWP failed to make reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities or long-term mental health conditions during health assessments for PIP, ESA and Universal Credit, and whether it has complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty. The EHRC’s investigation page carries the latest position.

Before that, the EHRC had already required the DWP to sign a legally binding agreement in April 2022 to improve its treatment of disabled claimants. And in July 2023, in R (Osman) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the DWP was found to have breached the Equality Act by failing to provide accessible communications to blind and partially sighted benefits claimants.

The point? If you feel you’ve been treated unfairly during the PIP process, you’re not imagining it, and the law is on your side.

In short: No. The Act protects the process, not the outcome: PIP is decided by descriptor points, 8 for the standard rate and 12 for the enhanced rate of each component. An unfair process can still give you grounds to challenge the decision.

No. And this is where a lot of confusion sits.

The Equality Act and PIP use different tests. Being disabled under the Equality Act means your condition has a substantial, long-term effect on day-to-day activities. But PIP isn’t awarded because you’re disabled. It’s awarded on how many descriptor points you score across specific activities.

You need 8 points for the standard rate of either component, and 12 points for the enhanced rate. The points come from descriptors: whether you can prepare food, wash and bathe, plan a journey or manage your medication, for example. Each descriptor has a set point value.

So you can be disabled under the Equality Act and still score zero points on the PIP descriptors. The two laws are doing different things:

• The Equality Act protects you from discrimination during the process of claiming PIP.
• The PIP descriptors decide the outcome: whether you get the benefit, and at what rate.

What the Equality Act does guarantee is that the process itself must be fair and accessible. If the DWP fails to make reasonable adjustments and that affects your assessment, you may have grounds to challenge the decision: not because of the Equality Act directly, but because an unfair process can lead to an inaccurate assessment.

For how the points system works, see our PIP descriptors and points guide.

In short: If the standard assessment would put you at a disadvantage, the provider must change it: a home visit, a different format, breaks, an interpreter, a same-gender assessor and more. Ask as soon as your appointment letter arrives, by phone and then in writing.

This is where the Equality Act has real teeth during the PIP process. If the standard assessment set-up puts you at a disadvantage because of your condition, the assessment provider must change things for you. You don’t need magic words, but mentioning the Equality Act in your request does tend to get it taken more seriously.

What counts as a reasonable adjustment?

How to make the request

Contact your assessment provider as soon as you get your appointment letter. Don’t wait. Phone them first, then follow up in writing, by email or letter. Having it in writing creates evidence if things go wrong later. Our reasonable adjustments letter puts the written request together for you.

If you’d rather write it yourself, Scope suggests wording like this:

Keep it simple and specific. You don’t need a solicitor.

If your request is refused

A refusal to make a reasonable adjustment is, in law, discrimination. If it happens, don’t just accept it. Make a formal complaint (the full complaints route is below) and mention the Equality Act specifically. You can also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for free advice on your options.

For more on preparing for the assessment itself, see our PIP assessment guide.

In short: You can ask the provider to audio record a face-to-face or telephone assessment, or record it yourself, even covertly; the assessor cannot stop the assessment because of it. Video recording is not allowed.

Recording your assessment is one of the most useful things you can do. If the assessor later writes something inaccurate in their report, a recording is the strongest evidence you can have to challenge it.

Here’s what the rules say, all taken from the DWP PIP Assessment Guide Part 1, in its section on audio recording of consultations.

Official recording by the assessment provider

You can ask your assessment provider to audio record the consultation, for both face-to-face and telephone assessments. You need to ask in advance.

For a face-to-face assessment, you’ll sign a consent form agreeing not to use the recording for unlawful purposes. For a phone assessment, consent is given out loud on the recording.

Using your own equipment

You can use your own device to audio record the assessment, and the same consent process applies. The old rules requiring CDs or cassette tapes have effectively been dropped: you can use a mobile phone.

Covert recording: yes, it’s allowed

This changed in February 2022, and many people (including some assessors) still don’t know. The DWP’s own guidance now says a claimant may make a covert audio recording without the assessor being aware. If the assessor notices, they should explain the recording rules, but they cannot stop the assessment. Before the change, covert recording could get your assessment ended.

If only your own personal data is recorded, there are no restrictions on how you use the recording. The DWP reserves the right to act only if a recording is altered and published maliciously.

Video recording: not allowed

You cannot video record any PIP assessment, whether face to face, by telephone or by video. Audio only.

Our advice

Ask your assessment provider to make an official recording, and make your own backup recording as well (covertly if you need to), in case the official one goes missing. If a poorly informed assessor tells you that you can’t record, don’t argue: stop recording, complete the assessment, and complain afterwards. Don’t risk your claim being disrupted.

Source: DWP, PIP Assessment Guide Part 1, audio recording of consultations, GOV.UK.

In short: A complaint won’t change the decision; only a mandatory reconsideration or an appeal can. Get the assessment report, list every inaccuracy with evidence, challenge within one month of the letter, and complain separately.

We hear this constantly from the people we help. You get your decision letter, ask for the assessment report (called the PA4), and find it’s full of things you didn’t say, or leaves out things you did. Maybe the assessor wrote that you “appeared comfortable and mobile” when you were in obvious pain. Maybe they recorded that you could do things you explicitly told them you couldn’t.

It’s infuriating. And you’re right to be angry.

But anger alone won’t fix it. What will fix it is turning that frustration into a proper challenge. Here’s how.

Step 1: Get the assessment report

You can ask the DWP for your assessment report by calling the PIP enquiry line on 0800 121 4433 (textphone 0800 121 4493). You’re entitled to see it. Go through it line by line and note every inaccuracy.

Step 2: Challenge it through a mandatory reconsideration or appeal

A complaint about the assessor won’t change your PIP decision. Only a mandatory reconsideration or a tribunal appeal can do that. In your challenge, list the specific inaccuracies point by point, and give evidence that contradicts what the assessor wrote.

Don’t miss the deadlines. You have one month from the date on your decision letter to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. If that fails, you have one month from the date on the mandatory reconsideration notice to appeal to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), online or on form SSCS1. Late requests can be accepted up to 13 months, with a reason, but don’t rely on it.

If you recorded your assessment, this is where it becomes invaluable. Quote the timestamps and include a transcript if you can.

Step 3: Complain separately

You should also make a formal complaint about the assessor’s conduct (see the next section). It won’t change your decision, but it creates a paper trail and may lead to the assessor being investigated.

For how to check your decision letter and the assessor’s report against each other, see our PIP decision letter guide. And for gathering the evidence that supports your challenge, see our PIP appeal evidence guide.

In short: Complain to the assessment provider first, then the DWP, then the Independent Case Examiner, and finally the Parliamentary Ombudsman through your MP. A complaint is about how you were treated; it runs alongside an appeal, not instead of it.

If you’ve been treated badly during the PIP process (a rude assessor, refused reasonable adjustments, an inaccurate report, long delays), you have the right to complain. The complaints process won’t overturn your PIP decision (only a mandatory reconsideration or appeal can do that), but it can lead to apologies, compensation, and changes that help other claimants.

Here’s the full route:

The complaints route, step by step

Remember: a complaint and an appeal are separate things. A complaint is about how you were treated. An appeal to HMCTS is about whether the decision was right. You can, and often should, do both at the same time.

Who your assessment provider is

PIP assessments are carried out by contracted providers, each covering its own region:

• Maximus: Northern England and Scotland
• Capita: Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Serco: South West and South Central England
• Ingeus: South East England, London and East Anglia

Your appointment letter gives your provider’s contact details. Not sure which provider you have? Look up your postcode on GOV.UK.

Source: GOV.UK, Find your health assessment provider.

A note on the Independent Case Examiner

The ICE is independent of the DWP and doesn’t charge you anything. But be aware: the ICE can only look at how the assessment was carried out (maladministration and service failures), not at whether the assessor’s medical opinion was right. It’s still worth pursuing if you’ve been badly treated. The ICE can recommend apologies, corrective action and consolatory payments.

Source: Independent Case Examiner, Annual Report 2024 to 2025, GOV.UK.

In short: Yes. Your MP can’t overturn a decision, but can chase delays, write to the DWP for you, raise your case in Parliament, and is the only route to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Yes, and more than you might think.

Your MP (Member of Parliament) represents you. They can’t overturn a PIP decision themselves, but they can put real pressure on the system. Here’s what they can do:

• Chase delays. If your mandatory reconsideration or appeal is taking too long, a letter from an MP tends to speed things up.
• Escalate complaints. Your MP can write directly to the DWP on your behalf.
• Refer you to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. This is the only way to reach the Ombudsman, and it can only happen through your MP.
• Raise your case in Parliament. In serious cases, MPs can raise issues in debates or written questions.
• Push for policy changes. If your experience shows a wider problem, your MP can use it to argue for reform.

How to contact your MP

Find your MP with the UK Parliament’s Find your MP service or theyworkforyou.com. You can write, email, or book a surgery appointment (a face-to-face meeting at their constituency office).

Source: Turn2us, Tell your MP about PIP.

What to include when you write

Keep your letter factual and specific. Include:

• Your full name, address and National Insurance number
• A short summary of your condition and how it affects you
• What happened: the timeline of your claim and the problems you’ve had
• What you want them to do: chase a decision, escalate a complaint, or refer you to the Ombudsman
• Copies of relevant letters: your decision letter, mandatory reconsideration notice and complaint responses

You don’t need to write an essay. A clear, one-page letter with supporting documents works better than a 20-page account.

For the whole appeals process, including tribunal preparation, see our PIP appeal guide.

In short: You have the right to see everything the DWP and the assessment provider hold about you, and the DWP must reply within one calendar month. Your full file can show evidence that was missed or notes that contradict the report.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have the right to see all the personal data that the DWP and the assessment providers hold about you. This is called a right of access request, often known as a subject access request.

What you can ask for

You can ask for copies of everything: your PIP application, the assessment notes, the assessor’s report, internal DWP notes, the decision maker’s reasoning, telephone call recordings, and any letters or emails about your claim.

How to make the request

The quickest way is the online form on GOV.UK. You can also ask by letter, email, phone, or in person.

The DWP must respond within one calendar month. You don’t need to give a reason for your request. It’s your data, and you have a right to it.

Why this matters for your appeal

Your full file can show things that weren’t in your decision letter: assessor notes that contradict the final report, evidence that was sent but never considered, or internal messages that show the decision was rushed. All of this can strengthen a mandatory reconsideration or appeal.

For more on gathering evidence for your PIP challenge, see our PIP appeal evidence guide.