As Work and Pensions Minister Liz Kendall prepares to implement major reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system, disabled people across the country are expressing concerns about how these changes will affect their lives. The upcoming adjustments to eligibility criteria are set to make it harder for many individuals to qualify for the benefit, leaving those with long-term health conditions and disabilities uncertain about their future support.

Katie Cheval is one of the many disabled people who rely on PIP to help support her through her daily challenges. The 34-year-old from Maidstone works two days a week managing a charity shop, a job she loves, but the physical demands of the role limit her ability to take on more hours. Ms Cheval told Express.co.uk: “I would love to work more, but I just can’t. I’ve tried doing more hours, but it’s too much for me. I end up in pain, and my health suffers.”

Ms Cheval lives with a combination of debilitating health conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and mobility and hearing issues. She receives the enhanced rates of PIP, as well as Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

However, she says the money doesn’t go far enough. She said: “I can’t live on my own. I have to move in with my mum. A lot of my money goes towards my car because I can’t use public transport, and without my car, I wouldn’t be able to carry all my medical equipment. But with the cost of bills and everything going up, it’s a constant battle.”

Ms Cheval now fears for her future support following today’s announcement about reforms to the PIP system.

PIP is a benefit distributed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to people who need extra help with daily tasks or getting around due to long-term illness, disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions. It has two components: a daily living part for those who need help with everyday tasks and a mobility part for those who need help moving around. Each comes with two rates: a standard rate and an enhanced rate, currently worth up to £737.20 per month if a person qualifies for both components.

Whether people get one or both parts and how much they get depends on how difficult they find individual tasks.

The PIP reforms, due to take effect in November 2026, will tighten eligibility criteria, meaning only the most severely disabled people will qualify for the daily living element. Under the new rules, individuals will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity in the test to qualify. While the mobility element of the benefit will remain unchanged, many, like Ms Cheval, worry the new rules will make it harder than it already is to qualify for the support they rely on.

Ms Cheval’s experience with claiming PIP has been far from straightforward. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2018, she describes the condition as “where your pain receptors work overtime.” Simple things, such as someone touching her arm, can trigger intense pain lasting for hours. This constant pain has severely limited her mobility, often requiring her to use a wheelchair or walking stick.

Ms Cheval was initially on benefits as a child, but when she became an adult, she tried to avoid claiming, hoping her health would improve. However, by 2018, her condition had deteriorated, forcing her to apply for PIP again. She said the process was long and stressful, and it took her over three years to be approved.

The recent Government announcement regarding the tightening of eligibility rules adds to Ms Cheval’s anxiety. She fears the changes will make it even harder for her to qualify, especially as she already faces hurdles with the current system. She said: “When everything’s changing, and they’re constantly saying what they are going to cover and what they’re not going to cover, you just think, ‘Is my diagnosis going to come under that now or not?’”

Ms Cheval expressed her desire to work despite her health challenges. She said, “I don’t want to not work. I’d love to get a full-time job. I don’t want to have to think about what I need to bring with me, what medication I’ve got, and things like that. I want to be happy and healthy.”

But, as she points out, her condition makes it nearly impossible to work full-time. She said: “I can’t physically work full-time because of my disability.”

The changes to Universal Credit, designed to encourage people to take on additional work by increasing the standard allowance, may offer some relief. However, Ms Cheval remains skeptical, noting that inflation often makes any increase in benefits seem minimal. She said: “Wages will go up, but so does inflation.”

Looking ahead to her upcoming reassessment for PIP next year, Ms Cheval admitted she feels anxious. She said: “It’s terrifying. It’s always changing, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

According to new data from the DWP, the number of working-age people receiving PIP has more than doubled from 15,300 to 35,100 a month since the pandemic. The number of young people (16-24) receiving PIP per month has increased from 2,967 to 7,857 a month.

Without reforms, the DWP estimated that number of working age people claiming PIP is expected to increase from two million in 2021 to 4.3 million over the next five years, costing £34.1billion annually.

The Government has defended the changes, branding it the biggest shake-up to the welfare system in a generation, which will create a “pro-work system”.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the current social security system is “failing the very people it is supposed to help and holding our country back”, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would be “morally bankrupt” to leave people “trapped out of work and abandoned by the system”.

But charities have argued the proposed changes are “immoral and devastating” for those they represent and could “push more disabled people into poverty”.

Thomas Lawson, CEO of anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: “We welcome proposed investment in employment support and the ‘right to try work’. However, the cuts will harm more people than they help. Reducing access to PIP and cutting Universal Credit for those unable to work is short sighted. It will create hardship, erode trust and cost us more in the long run.

“If the Government wants to ‘get Britain working’, it needs to get the system working. That means listening to people’s experiences, building trust and making sure everyone has enough to live on.”