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Washing and bathing and Reg 4
Hi guys,
I have a client with Parasitosis, a form of psychosis where he believes that his skin is infected with parasites. As a result of his condition he spends up to three hours per day washing and has quite a few rituals around cleanliness.
PIP have awarded 2 points. Would I be able to argue for 8 points on the basis of Reg 4?
Has anyone had cases dealing with similar issues?
Small World we have a client with that condition too. See extract from a sub that may or may not help.
‘Judge Gray held in GP v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (PIP)[2016] UKUT 0444 (AAC) that ‘Of particular note here is regulation 4 (c) the effect of which is to treat a person as unable to carry out an activity where the time that it would take them to do so is more than twice as long as someone without a disability would take.
28. The factual findings of the FTT set out in the statement of reasons were that the time that the appellant took to wash and bathe was more than twice the time somebody without the disorder would take, and that entitled him to eight points under activity 4g, the maximum for the activity Paragraphs 11 – 12)’.
I wonder if the reasoning in this decision might help (ie, if it could equally apply to Activity 4): https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/caselaw/item/over-eating-can-fall-within-the-scope-of-activity-2-taking-nutrition
[ Edited: 29 Aug 2023 at 10:36 am by Carri ]That would be quite an interesting argument to try at some point. In this case, I don’t think it would help. For this particular client being told to stop washing would trigger his anxiety and make him wash more.
We’ve submitted the MR, so we’re just waiting for the response from the DWP.
Good luck. As I read the SO decision, it leaves it open as to how many points someone can score for over-eating. I don’t understand SO as saying someone can only score points under a particular descriptor, eg 2(4) for prompting to stop.