Pip mobility

Hi SJ55

Welcome to the forum.

You might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is; www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/forum.

When applying for PIP, it is not so much the condition per se that the DWP is interested in, but how that condition/s impacts a claimant's daily life and mobility as set out in the PIP criteria. We are not assessors or medical professionals, so cannot give a view on what you will get and at what level. Two people can have identical conditions but be given different awards.

Our guide to PIP claims and reviews goes through each question highlighting important issues that you need to consider in your answers and giving some sample answers; benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip

PIP is not awarded because of the condition but rather the limitations that result and prevent a claimant from completing a range of everyday activities.

Read about the reliability element in the guide - if you cannot do something:

• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and acceptable standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a reasonable time period – no more than twice as long as a person without a physical or mental health condition would take to carry out the activity.

then they should not be considered able to do the activity.

The fact that you can’t do the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly or in a reasonable time, means you can’t do it at all for the purposes of the descriptors.

You are not required to walk pain free but any pain that restricts the distance that you can walk should be taken into account.

The Going Out activity looks at three things.

Planning a route - this is primarily a cognitive or sensory (e.g. blindness) activity. You are being asked about the problems you would have with working out how to get from one place to another, you do not need to be able to follow the route that you are planning.

Undertaking a Journey - this is to do with mental health issues such as agoraphobia and social anxiety and is concerned with them leaving the house to go somewhere, they will be interested in the things that stop them doing this. You need to show that they would suffer "overwhelming psychological distress" to meet the criteria.

Following a route - This activity about the problems they would have navigating a route. So are there any problems; cognitive, sensory or mental health issues that would prevent them from doing this? This is different from undertaking a journey, in fact, if they cannot undertake a journey then they will not score points for following one and vice versa.

If you say your partner's walking is restricted, you would need to be unable to reliably walk more than 50m to score sufficient points for an award just on the Moving Around activity.

Does your partner reasonably fit any of these criteria?

Specifically for the Moving Around activity, if your partner is able to walk but is in severe pain when doing so, then you can argue that their walking is not to a necessary standard and should be disregarded.

The legal test requires you to stand and then move (walk), so if your partner has problems getting up then you should document these as well.

If they walk slowly then it must take them at least twice the time to cover the distance as a healthy person would, this could be down to the speed of their walking but could also be the result of having to stop.

You must be able to repeat the distance, so if they could walk it once but not then be able to walk it again within a reasonable timescale then they should be classed as unable to repeat the activity.

I'm afraid I can't tell you how to show their walking is more restricted but things you need to think about is what they can't do, for example where can they walk in their house, how far is the toilet from where they normally sit, things that will count against them are any trips that they make outside, so for example, how do they do their shopping?

They must be able to walk the distance they can, reliably and on the majority of days, both these terms are defined in the PIP Claim guide

So you need to explain what they can do, how they are limited and why.

Gary