Upper Tribunal Decision - PIP - getting dressed and undressed.
In decision CPIP/772/2016, the Upper Tribunal has made two important clarifications of the PIP law about getting dressed and undressed. Descriptor 6B of PIP says that you can score two points if you need to use an aid to dress or undress.
FIRST POINT
The Upper Tribunal has said that you can claim points under Descriptor 2B whether you use an aid to only to dress, only to undress, or both. So a person who needs a long shoehorn to put on shoes but not to kick them off would qualify just as much as someone who used them to put on and take off their shoes.
SECOND POINT
The Upper Tribunal has previously said that the PIP test for dressing has to consider whether you can dress yourself in normal everyday clothing - not just really easy clothes like jogging bottoms and t-shirts. But the Upper Tribunal has also said that people can be expected to use practical alternative clothing which is is easier to wear, such as wearing a cardigan rather than a pullover to avoid having to raise your arms over your head.
In this case, the Upper Tribunal has said that slip-on shoes are one of the reasonable alternative types of clothing which people can be expected to wear if they have problems tying laces. In other words, you can't claim points under PIP if you can't tie or untie your own laces or need an aid to do them up.
This information is brought to you by BuDS Benefit Information Project. It is only general information and you should take advice on your case.
You can read the full judgement here: