PIP - Mobility question

I have been awarded 10 points for the mobility element (I've also had my personal care dropped from 17 to 8 points but I think I can sort that out myself).

When I was asked if I could plan an unfamiliar journey I said that I needed several practice (5 or 6) runs with either someone who knew the route or I needed to use a SatNav.

So I do need supervision, but can a SatNav be seen as an "aid" as it is essential for unfamiliar journeys, as it gives me an idea of the duration of the journey, so I can set out early enough and gives me alternative routes when necessary (I couldn't do that myself as I have a very poor sense of direction.

Any ideas or advice?

Hi Simon,

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

There are two potential issues here

Firstly, you can only score points for the 'planning a route' descriptor if you have sensory, cognitive or mental health problems.

Secondly, sat navs have previously been considered to not count as an aid to navigation unless there is something different from usual about the device. However, you have nothing to lose by making your argument (if your points were reduced at reconsideration you would be able to appeal against this).

I suggest you have a look at this descriptor in our PIP guide and see if this helps.

PIP help for claimants


May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your PIP without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too