PIP Moving around and distance dependant on pain?

Hi A The distance a claimant can walk is "calculated" by the information that people give them, and this can easily be misinterpreted. Have a look at the guide to PIP claims and reviews. Page 88 - 93 - should clarify the issues for you. It's broken down what each descriptor means and in the example you give, it seems most likely that you would be saying that a claimant can only walk 20 - 50 metres. You then need to give a clear explanation of why that is. Examples are given in the guide.

BIS

AndreaC

Just to clarify, you only need to show that you meet one of the Reliability criteria to be unable to complete a Descriptor, the DWP needs to show that you do not meet any of them.

Gordon

Hi AndreaC,
To add to what BIS says...
Yes all 4 criteria must apply. Furstly is there perhaps foreshore close by that you walk to, it could be the local shop, friend down the road etc. It may be somewhere in town wher you drive to, but have to finish the journey on foot. If there isn't anywhere then with the help of a friend you could do some analysis as to how far you can go.
So, if you are thinking about the place you go, how far is it? A friend could pace this out, or Google maps is often helpful. Ok, Firstly, this is not what I call the duracell test (Wind up toy that out lasts the others, with lesser quality batteries, and just goes forever.) Thinking about your walk, do you feel pain? Any breathlessness, fatigue, legs give way etc etc? What stops you walking further? Think about balance, the way you walk, speed, stumbles and (hopefully not) falls. If so, what causes these?
Do you you need to stop and rest, why and where? How long are the tests, how long is the time of the whole walk including the rest/s. Of this is a walk you fo often, or just the pavement outside home, see if you can analyse the walk several days. Do you have a problem doing the same walk the next day? Why, what happens?
Now, clearly if you can go on a longer walk, without any issues thst I have mentioned, and this is wellin excess if 200m then it seems unlikely you will gain points for poor walking.
However, because you are posting in B &W I'm sort if thinking that might not be the case!) So. ..what is the distance that you can manage for the majority of days without concerns about safety, completing in a reasonable time (no more than twice that of non disabled person), repeating this over the course of the day as many times as reasonably required, and to an acceptable standard. This is your walking level for PIP.
Remember it is not the dutacell test ie bust a gut and go till you drop. Your actual walking distance could be a lit more than what you should write in the form.
Acceptable standard, here will deal with the manner of walking, falls, balance would be relevant. Pain is also important. Pain greater than severe discomfort has to be ignored. Note severe discomfort could also comprise breathlessness dizziness etc. Of course if you have constant significant pain, it may be that your PIP walking ability is actually nil, but obviously you may still have to walk several metres to get to your car in the road outside.
Stops. A short pause to catch your breath is probably not going to matter.However a pause of sminute ir two will take you outside the reasonable time, and almost certainly will split the walk into 2 or more parts.(You may ultimately have walked 100m but if you stopped twice, for several moments it is likely that you actually did 3 walks of say 33meach. Thst said, what often happens is each smaller walk gets slower and slower, or the split isn't actually thirds. The first walk might be 50m, with say 2 minute pause then you do 30m with with 3 ir 4 minute pause, and the last bit is 20m, but you might find each part takes the same time as the first. You may have to sit down for 2 hours after the whole 100m. Think about the speed and what a reasonable time would be.
Safety, this could overlap with acceptable standard. (Indeed all 4 criteria could overlap at times )
Falls ( or stumbles aka the fall that you managed to just prevent!) Will indicate safety issues but safety could equate to other things, eg walking leads to fainting, or dangerously high blood pressure etc - if these sorts if scenarios occur it is likely your PIP walking ability is also zero metres.
Repetition ' affected by time taken as explained above. Ok, so think about the likely Repetition rate. (These could all be journeys that start off in a car, but need a few metres on foot at each end) Do the school run. Go to the post office to return Amazon parcel. Remember that you have to get a birthday card for your friend. Go home. Pick up kids. Go to friend's house to drop off the card. None of these trips seem unreasonable, and indeed there might be more things required across the day. Can you repeat all these trips, or more as appropriate? Can you do them all safely, acceptably and timely? What about the next day are you so exhausted you can't walk at all?
(If so you can't repeat.)
Ignoring the one off better days, and the bust a gut days when you overdo it, or just need to get stuff done, what happens for the majority of days?
Your PIP distance is what you can do safely, timely,repeatedly and acceptably for the majority of days. It is unlikely to be your overall duracell battery go till you drop distance.

I hope this helps.
LL26