Taxpayers hit with £5m-a-DAY bill for ‘bad back’ benefits as the nation’s PIP handouts double to £1.9billion a year

BRITAIN is spending almost £1.9billion a year on benefits for people with bad backs, new figures reveal. Taxpayers are now spending £5million a day on the benefit, up from £2million a day in just seven years. The number of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for back pain has soared to 276,725, up 111,000 according to the Department for Work and Pensions. An additional 47 people apply for the benefit every day, while the average payout has soared by 40% to £131.21 a week. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! PIP is a cash benefit designed to help people with the extra cost of long-term physical or mental health conditions. To get it you don’t need a doctor’s “fit note” as the payments are awarded based on how your condition affects your daily life, rather than a specific medical diagnosis. The Government has launched the Timms Review, which is the first assessment of the PIP system. In its interim report it concluded that PIP is not working and acts as a barrier to work. Four million people currently claim PIP in England and Wales but the bill is expected to more than double to £45billion by 2031. Back pain alone accounts for £1.89billion of the PIP bill. Most read in Money Pensioners are the fastest-rising group of claimants and account for up to 26% of claimants. This group are not new claimants as PIP is shut to anyone who has already reached the state pension age, which is currently 66. These pensioners may have first claimed the benefit while still of working age, then continued to receive the money into retirement. These people could potentially keep collecting the payments for multiple decades. NHS delays and waiting lists are also making it harder for those affected to seek treatment, which could improve their condition, meaning they would no longer need to claim benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions was approached for comment. Comment now