Descriptors re communicating, reading, engaging with people

Hi Herbicat

Thank you for your question; 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 you 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.

To answer your question, you need to keep a day diary recording how you feel on a day to day basis, you ask ''does pain and fatigue and the impact on your overall health count with the DWP or are they looking for cognitive impairment/mental health on these questions?' the answer is yes they should look at everything, remember it is not your condition they are looking at but how your condition affects you.

Two people with the same condition can be affected differently, take long covid for instance, no two people suffer with the same effect. Check out our guide for help; benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip

Gary