The PIP Reliability Test: Why 'Can You Do It?' Is Not the Real Question

When the DWP scores a PIP claim, it works through 12 activities and, for each one, chooses the description (the “descriptor”) that best fits you. Regulation 4(2A) of the Social Security (PIP) Regulations 2013 says a descriptor can only be treated as applying to you if you can carry out the activity:

• ✓Yes: Safely
• ✓Yes: To an acceptable standard
• ✓Yes: Repeatedly
• ✓Yes: Within a reasonable time period

In other words, the question is never just “can you do it?” It is “can you do it reliably, every time you need to, the way it actually needs to be done?” If the honest answer is no, that descriptor does not apply and a different descriptor has to be found.

Three of the four terms are given a precise meaning in regulation 4(4). The fourth, “to an acceptable standard”, is not defined in law, so it carries its ordinary meaning: the task is done properly, not half-finished.

1. Safely

The law defines this as doing the activity “in a manner unlikely to cause harm to you or to another person, either during or after completion”. The risk does not have to be certain, just a real possibility of harm. Example: if you have blackouts or seizures, bathing or cooking on the hob is not done safely, even on the days nothing goes wrong.

2. To an acceptable standard

The activity has to be completed to a reasonable standard, not just attempted. Example: if your condition means you can wash but regularly miss areas, or you cook but leave food undercooked, the task is not being done to an acceptable standard.

3. Repeatedly

Defined as being able to do the activity “as often as the activity is reasonably required to be completed”. One success is not enough if you need to do something several times a day. Example: you might climb the stairs once in the morning, but if pain or fatigue then stops you going up and down as the day needs, you cannot do it repeatedly.

4. Within a reasonable time period

Defined as taking “no more than twice as long as the maximum a person without the condition would normally take”. Example: if getting washed and dressed takes most people ten minutes but takes you forty, you are not completing it in a reasonable time.

This is the part that is easy to miss. You do not have to fail all four. If you cannot do an activity safely, it does not matter that you could do it quickly and properly, you still cannot do it reliably. The same goes for each of the other three. Failing any one means the descriptor does not apply, and the assessor must look for the descriptor that does.

Whether you are filling in the PIP2 form, sitting a health assessment, or writing a Mandatory Reconsideration, run every activity through the same four questions:

• ✓Yes: Can I do this safely, with no real risk of harm during or afterwards?
• ✓Yes: Can I do it to a proper standard, not half-done?
• ✓Yes: Can I do it as often as I actually need to through the day?
• ✓Yes: Can I do it without taking far longer than someone without my condition?

For any activity where the answer is no, say so plainly, give a real example, and describe the after-effects (the “payback”) and how often the problem happens. This last point links to the 50% rule for fluctuating conditions, a difficulty counts if it affects you on more than half your days.

Assessors are required to apply the reliability test, but a report can skip it, recording that you “can” do something without checking whether you can do it safely, repeatedly, properly and in a reasonable time. If your assessment report or decision did this, it is a strong ground of challenge.

Get a copy of your assessment report and read it against this test, then see our guide on how to challenge a PIP assessment report and the PIP appeal process. PIP in Northern Ireland has the same reliability rule. Adult Disability Payment in Scotland uses the same four words but defines them more fully: “safely” takes account of how likely harm is and how serious it would be, and “to an acceptable standard” takes account of the impact on you of doing the activity to that standard.