PIP mobility walking distance/times

Hi Cardiff 2011

Welcome to Benefits and Work.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip#claims
If you follow the link, it will take you to the members guides, where you will find lots of information about claiming PIP, including mobility.

Have a look, and hopefully your queries will be answered If not, if you have a specific query let us know, and we will endeavour to answer.
I hope this helps.

LL26

Hi Cardiff2011

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 your friend would have with working out how to get from one place to another, they do not need to be able to follow the route that they 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 friend's walking is restricted, they 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 friend reasonably fit any of these criteria?

It is not always necessary to provide new evidence for an MR if you are happy that the evidence that you have already provided explains your friend's limitations adequately.

You can challenge the assessor's comments, you might also want to check the distance, Google Maps or the equivalent may help. Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say that your friend can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your friend scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help you get an award.

Your primary task is to show that your friend meets the criteria, there are many reasons your friend may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

Lastly, make sure that you understand the criteria that you are being assessed against you can put the best case forward that is possible but you won't score points if you do not meet the PIP Descriptors.

Also, have a look at the following;

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

Specifically for the Moving Around activity, if your friend is able to walk but they are in severe pain when doing so, then you can argue that your 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 friend 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 your 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

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

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

Gary

Hi Cardiff2011

Some of the people that I know that have successfully challenged the distance have actually gone with a tape measure and measured the distance. (One of the members did it an assessment centre when the Health Professional said they had observed them walking twenty meters to the office when it was only 6!)

Your friend may not be able to do this, but he could ask the people who take him shopping to go in and ask if they could measure the length of one aisle. If they explain why they want to do it - there shouldn't be a problem. (However, be warned - this may not be helpful if it turns out the supermarket is bigger than your friend thinks).

You say that your friend rarely goes out. Is this because of choice- is this because of mobility issues, is it because of pain? They need to be very clear about their limitations, the fact that it may take them much longer than someone who does not have the same difficulties. Have they emphasised the safety issues? Clinging onto rackety only trollies - instead of using crutches is not safe. Once they have finished - would they be able to do it again in a reasonable time frame? If not, say why not. Also - what impact does the amount of pain they experience have - does it cause them to stop, walk more slowly....

You could also say, that the assessor has not seen you, so is wrong to assume that you can do anything 'reliably' - going out occasionally is not the same as going regularly.

BIS