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Daily living - Activity 4: Washing and bathing

Activity 4 considers a claimant’s ability to wash and bathe. ‘Washing’ means cleaning ones whole body, including removing dirt and sweat. ‘Bathing’ includes getting into or out of an unadapted bath or shower. Shower can include shower attachments for a bath. As with all the other activities, a claimant is to be assessed as satisfying a descriptor only if they can do so reliably.

Descriptors

The descriptors for Activity 4 are -

  1. Can wash and bathe unaided. 0 points
  2. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe. 2 points
  3. Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe. 2 points
  4. Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist. 2 points
  5. Needs assistance to be able to get in or out of a bath or shower. 3 points
  6. Needs assistance to be able to wash their body between the shoulders and waist. 4 points
  7. Cannot wash and bathe at all and needs another person to wash their entire body. 8 points

Source: Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (SI.No.377/2013), and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to SR.No.217/2016 in Northern Ireland.

NB - in Scotland, adult disability payment has replaced personal independence payment and the descriptors are found in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (SSI.No.54/2022).

Definitions

Terms used in the PIP descriptors are defined in regulations and, in relation to Activity 4, are -

  • “aid or appliance” - (a) means any device which improves, provides or replaces [the claimant's] impaired physical or mental function; and (b) includes a prosthesis; 
  • “assistance” means physical intervention by another person and does not include speech;
  • “bathe” includes get into or out of an unadapted bath or shower;
  • “prompting” means reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person; 
  • “supervision” means the continuous presence of another person for the purpose of ensuring [the claimant's] safety; 
  • “unaided” means without - (a) the use of an aid or appliance; or (b) supervision, prompting or assistance. 

Source: Regulation 2 of and Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (SI.No.377/2013), and regulation 2 of and Part 1 of Schedule 1 to SR.No.217/2016 in Northern Ireland.

See also DWP guidance on Activity 4 in section 2.3 of the Personal Independence Payment assessment guide for assessment providers.

NB - in Scotland, adult disability payment has replaced personal independence payment and the definitions are found in regulation 2 of and Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (SSI.No.54/2022). In addition, guidance on adult disability payment is available from​ Social Security Scotland's Decision Making Guide.

Case law

Commentary:​ In [2020] UKUT 252 (AAC), the Upper Tribunal found that, where a person has to remove their hearing aids in order to have a bath or shower and that means they cannot hear or identify a typical alarm, then they should score 2 points under this activity - either for needing an appliance such as a flashing light in the bathroom, or for supervision so that another person can ensure they are safe. Judge Perez also found that the assessment of risk was not subjective and that First-tier Tribunals should not be able to make different decisions in this respect. These conclusions are binding from the date of decision (21 August 2020) unlike those made in [2018] UKUT 251 (AAC) which suggested that First-tier Tribunals may come to different conclusions. The DWP subsequently completed a corrective exercise that reviewed cases against Judge Perez's decision, resulting in around 4,000 arrears payments amounting to around £11 million being made.| Add commentary or suggest an edit.

NB: in addition to the cases listed below, see also: Upper Tribunal PIP cases without a Neutral Citation Number and case law relating to adult disability payment in Scotland.