THOUSANDS of people in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have taken the Government to tribunal over disability benefit payments – and more than three-quarters won, figures show.

Since 2013, hundreds of thousands of benefits decisions have been overturned across the UK after disabled people battled a "complex and distressing" appeals system to win their case at tribunal, disability charities say.

Anyone denied Personal Independence Payment – which covers the additional expenses faced by people with disabilities and is worth between £23 and £150 a week – can request a reconsideration.

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If someone is still unhappy with the result of this, they can further appeal it at an independent tribunal.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data shows roughly 2,050 cases from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were taken to tribunal between April 2013 and the end of 2021.

Around 78 per cent of people saw the DWP's decision overturned in their favour over the period.

Nationally, claimants have won more than two-thirds of the cases that have reached tribunal since 2013.

"Failures of the benefits system"

Nina Huszarik, lead policy adviser at charity Scope, said far too many disabled people received the wrong decision first time around and were left without financial support as a result.

She said an enormous number of disabled people's lives had been thrown into turmoil by "failures of the benefits system", with many not well enough to face the mental and physical stress and exhaustion of taking their cases to appeal.

Overall, the DWP assessed 26,530 applications for PIP from people in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole between 2013 and 2021, with the benefit awarded in 17,510 cases.

Ken Butler, from Disability Rights UK said a tribunal hearing was often the first time a claimant "felt properly listened to".

A DWP spokesman said the overturned cases represented just a fraction of millions of decisions made following assessments and said the majority of PIP decisions were right.

He added: "All assessments were carried out by professionals trained to consider the impact of an individual's condition or disability, but we are exploring what more we can do so the welfare system better meets the needs of disabled people through our Health and Disability Green Paper."

The DWP now allows more time for applicants to gather information to support their claim.