Five-month disability benefits delay causing hardship, says Citizens Advice

UK charity says 150 people an hour contacting it over backlog in processing personal independence payment claims

Hundreds of thousands of disabled and chronically ill people in the UK are missing out on cash payments worth up to 157 a week because bureaucratic delays have driven up processing times for disability benefit claims to an average of five months.

The Citizens Advice charity said the backlog in personal independence payment (Pip) claims processing was causing widespread stress and hardship. Roughly 150 people an hour were contacting its advisers for one-to-one help with the delays.