revised mobility criteria in PIP

XFACTOR wrote: The new criteria due to come in a few weeks will make sure that psychological distress wont count when out on journeys. There is a possibility that parliament might yet force change but assuming it goes ahead which is most likely then what of claims put in before the implementation date of the new regs Should they not be decided on the old regs as interpreted by the Upper Tribunal panel of 3 judges ?

The DWP view is that their guidance remains unchanged. the modification of the Descriptors is simply to re-instate the original intention of the Descriptors.

Bottom line, no they won't take any account of the "old" regulations.

It's important to understand that the UTT Decision merely opens the door for a claimant to be awarded the higher rate due to mental health issues, they still need to show that they meet the requirements to do so, one of the disingenuous statements made by the DWP is the number of claimants that would now be able to qualify through this route, based on what I see in the forum, very few claimants actually would.

Gordon

XFACTOR

You are right that the Standard rate was included but eligible claimants would likely be targeting either (e) or (f), also I think the arguments that someone would use for mental health problems would not necessarily be different for an unfamiliar route rather than a familiar one.

Whilst you can make the arguments, it will be when the Decision is made that will count and we expect the DWP to hold back the Decision on claims where this would be an issue until after the law changes.

Gordon