British taxpayers are having to fork out £800 every minute on disability benefits for people claiming anxiety, new figures have revealed.
The annual cost of Personal Independence Payments for anxiety has soared from less than £100million in 2019 to nearly a gobsmacking £427million last year.
In the year to January, 66,818 people in England and Wales listed anxiety as their main disability condition, with each claimant receiving an average of £122.77 weekly, the Daily Mail exposed.
The benefit can reach up to £194 per week and requires no medical examination for the cash.
Applicants are able to secure payments using only a personal diary or a letter from a friend describing how anxiety affects their daily routine.
Since PIP is not means-tested, a company director earning six figures can qualify on identical terms to anyone else. Recipients also face no requirement to stop working.
The system hands out points across 12 daily living and mobility activities, including washing, cooking, socialising and planning journeys.
Needing prompting to socialise earns two points, while complete inability to manage social situations scores eight.
The benefits can be snapped up without any medical examination for the cash
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Just eight points from a possible 72 triggers the standard daily living rate of £73.90 per week – while a separate mobility component can add up to £77.05 on top.
Under current rules, someone who occasionally needs prompting to socialise, takes longer to cook, requires reminders to wash and finds travel stressful can accumulate enough points for payment.
No diagnosis or doctor’s note is necessary.
Since the Covid pandemic, psychiatric disorders have driven a boom in claims, now accounting for over 40 per cent of PIP applications.
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The Institute for Fiscal Studies found mental health conditions represented 55 per cent of the rise in disability benefits.
A thriving industry of unregulated no-win, no-fee firms has emerged to coach applicants through the claims process, pocketing up to 60 per cent of any backdated payment secured.
Unlike PPI firms, which are legally capped at 20 per cent of payouts, benefit claims companies face no fee limit and no regulatory oversight.
TikTok accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers can even teach people which words to use and how to describe symptoms for maximum effect.
Last month, think tank Policy Exchange discovered last month that AI chatbots are generating model answers for PIP claim forms, even when users say they lack medical evidence.
Cath Wieland, 33, from West Sussex, received a suspended jail sentence after investigators found she had been surfing and ziplining in Mexico while claiming anxiety left her housebound.
She had claimed £23,000, splashing the cash on acrylic nails, tanning sessions and beauty appointments while telling the DWP she could not cook, wash herself or travel alone.
Meanwhile, Sara Morris, 50, from Staffordshire, was jailed for eight months in July 2024 after competing in 73 races as a running club member while claiming anxiety prevented her from leaving home.
Reform UK’s economic spokesman Robert Jenrick branded the cost “offensive” to everyday hard-working Britons.
“The eyewatering amount we spend on mild mental health conditions is absurd,” the Newark MP fumed.
Echoing a similar fury, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “Millions are getting benefits for anxiety and ADHD, along with a free Motability car. The bill is too high and the system is broken.”
But, in the Commons, Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to tighten PIP rules last year was scrapped after 126 Labour rebels threatened to block the changes.