PIP Activity 11: Planning and Following Journeys - Complete Scoring Guide

Activity 11 is the first of two MOBILITY activities. It covers planning a journey and following its route. This is PIP2 Question 13. This activity is about cognitive and psychological ability to navigate, not physical walking. If you get lost, cannot use public transport due to anxiety or need someone with you on journeys, this is your activity.

The Descriptors and Points

a. Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided - 0 points.

b. Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant - 4 points. Someone needs to encourage you to leave the house. You would not make any journey without someone prompting you. Common with agoraphobia and severe anxiety.

c. Cannot plan the route of a journey - 8 points. You cannot work out in advance how to get somewhere or which bus to take, even using a map, an app or a timetable. Getting lost on a route you have already planned is descriptor d or f, not c. Common with dementia, learning disabilities and brain injury.

d. Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid - 10 points. You can follow familiar routes but get lost on new ones. Need someone with you for unfamiliar places.

e. Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant - 10 points. You cannot make a single journey, even with someone with you, because of overwhelming psychological distress. DWP guidance says e and f cannot both apply: if you can manage a familiar journey with support, f is considered first; if you cannot manage any journey even with support, e applies.

f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid - 12 points. You get lost, cannot cope or are not safe even on familiar routes unless someone (or an assistance dog or orientation aid) is with you.

This Is NOT About Walking Distance

Activity 11 is about PLANNING and FOLLOWING routes. Activity 12 is about physical walking. They are separate. You can score on both. Someone who can walk 100 metres but gets lost or panics on public transport scores on Activity 11 AND may score on Activity 12.

Conditions That Score Here

Agoraphobia (cannot leave house), severe anxiety (panic on public transport), autism (cannot cope with unfamiliar environments), dementia (gets lost), learning disabilities (cannot plan routes), visual impairment (cannot read signs), PTSD (triggered by crowds), epilepsy (risk of a seizure while out alone), Meniere's (vertigo attacks making travel unsafe).

What to Describe

When was the last time you made an unfamiliar journey alone? If you cannot remember, that says everything. Describe what would happen if you had to go somewhere new alone - the anxiety, the disorientation, the risk of getting lost. Describe any journeys you have avoided or cancelled because of your condition.

Familiar vs Unfamiliar Journeys

PIP distinguishes between familiar journeys (routes you've taken many times before, like to your GP) and unfamiliar journeys (somewhere you've never been). Many people can manage familiar routes but cannot navigate unfamiliar ones. This scores differently - cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid scores 10 points (descriptor d); cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without one scores 12 points (descriptor f).

Psychological Barriers to Journeys

Agoraphobia, severe anxiety, PTSD and panic disorder can score 10-12 points on this activity alone. If overwhelming psychological distress means you cannot make any journey at all, that is descriptor e (10 points). If you can only get through a journey with someone with you because of that distress, descriptor d (unfamiliar journeys, 10 points) or f (familiar journeys, 12 points) applies. This is where mental health conditions often score most on the mobility component. "I cannot follow even a familiar journey without my partner because leaving my home alone causes overwhelming panic attacks. I have not left my house without my partner in 6 months."

The "Overwhelming Psychological Distress" Test

Only descriptors b and e use the words "overwhelming psychological distress", but DWP assessment guidance confirms that a claimant who suffers overwhelming psychological distress on a journey and needs to be accompanied to get through it may satisfy descriptor d or f. That follows the High Court judgment in RF v SSWP (December 2017), which quashed a 2017 amendment that had tried to exclude psychological distress from descriptors c, d and f; the government accepted the judgment in January 2018. The regulations define psychological distress as distress related to an enduring mental health condition or an intellectual or cognitive impairment, and the guidance calls the "overwhelming" threshold a very high one. It means more than ordinary anxiety:

• Panic attacks during or about the journey
• Dissociation triggered by journey
• Cannot complete journey - turn back or seek help
• Significant after-effects (hours/days of distress, exhaustion)
• Active avoidance of journeys as a result

Document specific incidents where you experienced this.

Common Activity 11 Qualifying Patterns

• Agoraphobia: Often descriptor f (12 pts) - cannot follow even a familiar journey without someone there; descriptor e (10 pts) if you cannot make any journey even with support
• Autism with sensory issues: Often descriptor d (10 pts) - cannot follow unfamiliar
• Dementia: Often descriptor c-f (8-12 pts) depending on stage
• Severe anxiety / PTSD: Often descriptor b (4 pts) or d (10 pts)
• Severe vertigo / Meniere's: Often descriptor d (10 pts) - unsafe alone
• Severe epilepsy: Often descriptor d (10 pts) - seizure risk alone
• Learning disability: Often descriptor c-f (8-12 pts)
• Severe visual impairment: Often descriptor d (10 pts) without orientation aid

"Another Person" - What Does It Mean?

The descriptors specify "another person, assistance dog or orientation aid." Person can be:

• Family member or friend
• Paid carer or support worker
• Volunteer (taxi driver assistance, transport buddy schemes)
• Anyone who can physically accompany and assist

The person must be needed for you to make your way along the route reliably, not simply there by preference. Note: an ordinary GPS or sat nav, including the one in your phone, is not an orientation aid under the regulations, so relying on one does not by itself put you in descriptor d or f - the test is whether you can complete the journey reliably without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.

Assistance Dogs and Orientation Aids

• Guide dogs: For visual impairment
• Hearing dogs: For deafness
• Medical alert dogs (diabetes, epilepsy) and autism assistance dogs: Not assistance dogs as the regulations define them (a dog trained to guide or assist a person with a sensory impairment), so describe the underlying need instead - if you cannot follow a route safely without someone with you, that is what scores
• Long cane: For visual impairment (a symbol cane, which only signals sight loss to others, is not an orientation aid)
• White cane with red bands: For deafblind
• Specialist navigation apps designed for disabled users: May count; an ordinary phone sat nav does not

An orientation aid is a specialist aid designed to assist disabled people to follow a route safely. If you cannot follow the route of a journey without one of these, the relevant descriptor is d (unfamiliar journeys, 10 points) or f (familiar journeys, 12 points).

The Sat Nav Question

DWP assessment guidance is clear that an ordinary sat nav, including the one in your phone, is not an "orientation aid", and neither are maps or lists of directions. Orientation aids are specialist aids designed for disabled people, such as a long cane. In practice:

• A standard sat nav or phone map app does not count as an orientation aid and does not score points by itself
• Specialist orientation apps for visual impairment (BlindSquare, Microsoft Soundscape) do count
• If you cannot follow journeys without specific assistive technology, document this carefully
• Combined with another condition (anxiety, cognitive impairment) makes case stronger

Frequently Asked Questions

I can drive. Does that mean I can follow journeys?

Not necessarily. If you can only drive familiar routes and get lost or panicked on unfamiliar ones, you still score. If you can drive but can't use public transport, that limits your journey options. And if your condition means you shouldn't be driving (drowsiness, seizure risk, visual problems) but you do anyway, the SAFE criterion means you can't do it reliably.

I use a sat nav. Is that an aid?

Not for scoring purposes. DWP assessment guidance says an ordinary sat nav, including a phone map app, is not an orientation aid - the regulations reserve that term for specialist aids designed to help disabled people follow a route safely, such as a long cane. Needing a sat nav does not by itself put you in descriptor d or f. If you get lost or cannot cope even with a sat nav, or you need someone with you as well, describe that instead.

I have not left the house in months - what should I score?

Profound agoraphobia often scores descriptor f (12 points) where you can only manage a familiar journey with someone with you, or descriptor e (10 points) where overwhelming psychological distress stops you making any journey at all, even with support. Document: when did you last leave alone, what happens if you try, what would happen if you had to go to an appointment.

My partner has to come everywhere with me - is that enough?

Yes - if you cannot follow journeys without them, descriptor d (10 pts) or f (12 pts) applies. Be specific: which journeys can you not do alone, what would happen if you tried.

Will the assessor want to know my travel history?

Possibly. They may ask if you went on holiday last year. Holidays with family don't disqualify - even profoundly anxious people sometimes manage major trips with significant support. Describe support received.

How does Activity 11 work with Activity 12 mobility?

Both score separately. You can qualify on both. Many people qualify for enhanced mobility (12+ points) through Activity 11 alone even if Activity 12 walking is fine.

Does using taxis instead of public transport count?

If you use taxis because you cannot use public transport due to your condition, this is evidence. Cannot use bus/train alone often combines with cannot drive to leave you dependent on taxis or accompanied travel.