Social Security Case Law - Winter 2024

Summaries of recent cases on social security law and practice.

TC v Department for Communities (PIP) [2024] NICom30

You can read the full judgment ‘here‘.

Headnote

Ability to establish a relationship when assessing the PIP activity ‘Engaging with Others’ requires evidence of more than mere visits to shopping centres and dealing with transactional exchanges.

Case Overview

Both parties agreed that the Tribunal had erred in its consideration of Activity 9 by using a restricted approach to engaging with others. It was noted that the Tribunal inferred a great deal from the fact that the appellant went alone to shopping centres where she would have inevitably encountered and had to deal with others. However, the Commissioner noted at paragraph 15:

‘To assume that this level of engagement is sufficient to engage the zero-scoring descriptor, “can engage with other people unaided” is to misunderstand the nature of the difficulties that the other descriptors are aimed at identifying.’

Relevant Case Law

RC v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (PIP) [2017] UKUT 352 (AAC)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v MM [2019] UKSC 3