PIP Activity 10: Making Budgeting Decisions - Complete Scoring Guide

Activity 10 covers making budgeting decisions - managing money, paying bills, calculating costs and planning purchases. This is PIP2 Question 12. It applies to anyone who cannot manage their finances independently, whether due to cognitive difficulties, mental health conditions or learning disabilities.

The Descriptors and Points

a. Can manage complex budgeting decisions unaided - 0 points. You can manage household bills, plan spending, compare prices and handle bank accounts independently.

b. Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make complex budgeting decisions - 2 points. Someone helps you with bills, bank accounts, financial planning or comparing prices for major purchases. Very common - if your partner manages the household finances because you cannot, this applies.

c. Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make simple budgeting decisions - 4 points. You need help with basic money tasks like calculating change, knowing if something costs too much or understanding a shop receipt.

d. Cannot make any budgeting decisions at all - 6 points. Someone else handles ALL financial matters because you cannot make even simple decisions, such as working out what something costs or what change you should get.

"Simple" vs "Complex" Decisions

Simple: calculating the cost of items in a shop, working out change, deciding if you can afford a specific item.

Complex: managing monthly bills, planning a household budget, knowing how much is left to spend once rent and bills are paid, managing direct debits, understanding bank statements, planning future purchases. Decisions that need financial knowledge, such as comparing mortgages or working out interest rates, are beyond what PIP counts as complex and are not part of the test.

Conditions That Score Here

Learning disabilities, ADHD (impulsive spending, cannot track bills), bipolar disorder (spending sprees during mania), dementia (cannot understand money), brain injury, severe depression (cannot manage bills, unopened post), autism (difficulty understanding abstract financial concepts), dyscalculia, schizophrenia.

Simple vs Complex Budgeting

PIP separates "simple" budgeting (calculating the cost of items, working out change) from "complex" budgeting (managing household bills, planning future spending, calculating a weekly budget). Many people can hand over money in a shop but can't manage their electricity bill. That's the difference between descriptors - and it matters for scoring.

If someone else pays your bills, manages your bank account or controls your spending because you can't do it safely, describe who does it and why: "My partner manages all household bills because I cannot understand the statements. I have overpaid bills three times and missed payments twice in the last year when I tried to manage them myself."

Impulsive Spending

Conditions like bipolar disorder, BPD, ADHD, and some medication side effects cause impulsive spending that empties bank accounts. This IS a budgeting difficulty under PIP, provided it comes from your condition rather than choice and someone has to prompt you or step in as a result. "During manic episodes I spend hundreds of pounds online without realising. My partner has had to take control of my bank card to prevent this."

Common Examples That Score Activity 10 Points

• Partner manages all household bills: direct debits, utility renewals, council tax, broadband, mobile. You have not opened a bill in years. Descriptor b (2 points) minimum, possibly c (4 points) if you cannot manage simple costs either.
• You use an "envelope budgeting" system or pre-paid card: because you cannot otherwise control spending. Activity 10 has no aid or appliance descriptor, so a system like this scores nothing on its own. It supports your claim only if another person has to set it up or run it for you, because their help is the prompting or assistance that scores.
• Family member has your bank card: because you have run up debts or made impulsive purchases. Often a manic, BPD or ADHD pattern.
• You have a Court of Protection Deputy, or an attorney under a property and affairs LPA who runs your finances: because you lack the capacity to manage them. Strong evidence for descriptor b (2 points) at least and often c (4 points). Descriptor d (6 points) applies only if you cannot make even simple budgeting decisions.
• You have made multiple online scam losses: because you cannot judge legitimate vs scam offers. Common with dementia, learning disability, severe ADHD.
• You have ongoing debt management plans, IVAs or bankruptcies: arising from inability to manage finances rather than low income alone.
• Charity or benefits adviser deals with your bills and financial paperwork for you: because you cannot work out what you owe, what is due or what you can afford to pay. Filling in a form on its own is not a budgeting decision, so describe the money decisions they make for you.
• Universal Credit alternative payment arrangements: rent paid direct to landlord or budgeting payments fortnightly because you cannot manage monthly payment.

Conditions and Likely Activity 10 Scoring

• Moderate learning disability: Typically descriptor c (4 points - needs help with simple decisions) or d (6 points)
• Severe learning disability: Almost always descriptor d (6 points - cannot make any decisions)
• Dementia (any stage past early MCI): Often descriptor c (4 points) progressing to d (6 points)
• Acquired brain injury: Variable - often descriptor b (2 points) or c (4 points) depending on cognitive impact
• Severe ADHD: Often descriptor b (2 points) for impulse spending and bill management failures
• Bipolar disorder: Often descriptor b (2 points) because of manic spending episodes
• Severe depression: Often descriptor b (2 points) - cannot open post, ignore bills, executive function failure
• Autism with executive function difficulties: Often descriptor b (2 points) for complex bills and planning
• BPD / EUPD: Often descriptor b (2 points) because of impulse spending
• Schizophrenia: Often descriptor c (4 points) or d (6 points) during acute episodes; lower at baseline
• Dyscalculia: Often descriptor b (2 points) where calculation difficulty means you need help with bills and budgets, or c (4 points) if you need help even with costs and change

How to Describe Budgeting Difficulty Convincingly

Generic statements like "I struggle with money" score nothing. Specific examples score points. Strong wording uses three components: what you cannot do, the evidence that you cannot do it and what would happen without support.

• Weak: "I am bad with money."
• Strong: "I cannot manage household bills because of my severe depression. My husband has done all bill management for the last 2 years after I missed council tax payments for 4 consecutive months. Without his help my electricity would be cut off."
• Weak: "I impulse spend."
• Strong: "My ADHD causes weekly impulse purchases averaging £200-400. I have £8,000 of credit card debt accumulated this way. My partner controls my bank card. When she returned it to me last August I spent £600 on Amazon in 3 days."
• Weak: "I get confused with money."
• Strong: "My learning disability means I cannot count change reliably. My support worker accompanies me on all shopping. Last time I tried alone I gave the shop £20 for a £4.50 item and walked out without checking the change."

Evidence That Strengthens Activity 10 Claims

• Lasting Power of Attorney or Court of Protection deputyship for property and affairs
• Joint bank account or third-party access showing someone else manages
• Universal Credit alternative payment arrangement letters
• Debt management plan, IVA or bankruptcy paperwork
• Letter from family member, support worker or social worker about the help they provide
• Mental health letters mentioning cognitive impairment or executive dysfunction
• Learning disability assessment
• Educational psychology report mentioning dyscalculia
• Examples of fraud, scam losses or financial exploitation

Frequently Asked Questions

I can use contactless payment. Does that mean I can budget?

No. Tapping a card is a physical action, not a budgeting decision. If you tap your card without understanding whether you can afford the purchase, or without knowing your bank balance, you cannot make budgeting decisions independently.

What if I use online banking - does that mean I can manage money?

Not necessarily. Using a banking app is a technical skill. The PIP test is about understanding and making decisions. If you check the app but cannot interpret the balance, do not know what bills are due, cannot tell if a transaction is legitimate or panic when faced with statements, you still need budgeting support.

My benefits go into my account but my mum manages everything from there - does that count?

Yes. This is the classic descriptor b (2 points) or higher pattern. Make this explicit on the form: "My mother is the named third party on my account. She receives my UC and PIP, pays my rent and bills and gives me a weekly allowance. Without her I would not be able to manage."

What about dyscalculia specifically?

Dyscalculia (a specific learning difference affecting numbers) can support descriptor b (2 points), or c (4 points) if you need help even with costs and change, but the diagnosis alone is not enough. PIP scores what you need, so show that it means someone has to prompt or help you with budgets and bills on the majority of days. Get the formal diagnosis on record - either NHS or private. Many adults with dyscalculia were never diagnosed at school; you can pursue an adult assessment.

Will an appointee or LPA affect my PIP score for Activity 10?

Yes - a DWP appointee, a Court of Protection deputy or an attorney who actually runs your finances is strong evidence that you cannot manage your own money, so descriptor b (2 points) applies at least and often c (4 points). Descriptor d (6 points - cannot make any budgeting decisions at all) applies only if you cannot make even simple decisions such as working out the cost of goods or the change you are owed. A registered LPA proves little on its own, because you make one while you still have capacity, so explain what your attorney or appointee has to do for you and why. Submit the appointee paperwork or LPA registration confirmation with your PIP claim.

I am OK with money usually but during depression / mania I am not - what do I score?

If you are unable to manage budgeting reliably on the majority of days, the descriptor applies. For bipolar disorder, manic episodes are predictably destructive. The "majority of days" test considers your reliability over time, not your best days.

Is needing someone to fill in forms with you Activity 10 or Activity 8?

Both, potentially. Needing someone to read and explain a form to you is Activity 8 (reading and understanding written information), not Activity 7, which is about speaking and hearing. Needing someone to make the money decisions behind it, such as working out what you can afford to pay or setting up payments for a bill, is Activity 10. Filling in a form is not scored on its own, so list the reading difficulty and the budgeting difficulty separately.