Personal Independence Payment - PIP Assessment - Socialise

Engaging with other people face to face is a daily living activity. Add the points you score for this activity with the points you score for other daily living activities to find out if you may be entitled to the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

When you are looking at how many points you score for socialising, think about what help you need most of the time to do it:

• Safely
• Well enough
• Often enough
• Fast enough

You score the points for the sentence that is true for most or over half of the time. If more than one sentence is true, you normally only get points for the sentence that is true for the most time. You can only score one set of points for socialising, do not add them together.

No points

You can socialise with other people, on their own or in small groups, without any help.

Examples of socialising:

• Talking to people and understanding their words and their moods
• Behaving appropriately
• Making friends

Two points

You can only socialise with other people if someone else reminds you or encourages you.

Four points

You need a specially trained person or a person who knows you well to help you to socialise with other people.

Examples of a specially trained person:

• Your carer
• Support worker

Eight points

You can’t socialise with other people because it makes you hurt yourself or other people.

You can’t socialise with other people because it makes you so distressed that you can’t do anything.

Examples of so distressed that you can’t do anything:

• You have an anxiety or panic attack
• You have a breakdown or meltdown

Reviewed: February 2023