AM v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (PIP): [2024] UKUT 289 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber decision by Judge Church on 13 September 2024.
Read the full decision in .
Judicial Summary
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This appeal is about the requirement that a claimant is only to be assessed as satisfying a descriptor for the purposes of entitlement to a Personal Independence Payment if they can carry out the relevant activity “safely” (see Regulation 4(2A)(a) of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013).
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In this decision I consider the proper test for assessing the ability of a claimant who experiences seizures to carry out activities “safely”, and in particular:
a. the significance of whether the claimant experiences prodromal/pre-ictal symptoms prior to a seizure;
b. to the extent that the tribunal finds that the claimant experiences prodromal/pre-ictal symptoms and relies upon these symptoms serving as a “warning sign” of an impending seizure, the fact finding that is required to support a finding that the occurrence of such “warning signs” permits the claimant to carry out the relevant activity “safely”;
c. where a claimant loses consciousness, the significance of the period of time for which consciousness is lost, and the fact finding that is required to support a finding that the brevity of such loss of consciousness permits the claimant to carry out the relevant activity “safely”; and
d. the significance of whether the claimant experiences post-ictal symptoms.
The appeal was supported by the Secretary of State