Caselaw summaries

PIP Activity 7 (‘Communicating verbally’) – for purpose of descriptor 7(b) (‘Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to speak or hear’), a bone anchored hearing aid (‘BAHA’) qualifies as an ‘aid or appliance’

Employment and support allowance (ESA) - failure to take part in (‘submit to’) a medical – good cause

Personal independence payment – meaning of ‘aid’ – ‘normality of behaviour’ is not determinative of whether a device qualifies as an aid – bath handles can be an aid

Upper Tribunal for Scotland (UTS) – permission to appeal

Universal credit (UC) - identity – claim ‘closure’ for failure to provide evidence – failure to apply the law

Tribunals – error for failing to make adequate findings of fact and give adequate reasons in refusing daily living component – also for adopting ‘flawed findings’ in healthcare professional’s report

PIP mobility and walking in pain – tribunal needed to making finding regarding level of pain the claimant is in while walking (including in supermarket aisles, which the tribunal had referred to as evidence)

Universal credit (UC) - ‘backdating’ of UC – late notification of expiry of existing benefit – further delay after receiving notification

Tribunals – set-aside of a decision to set aside a decision of the First-tier Tribunal

Adult disability payment – points counting towards entitlement can only be scored if the claimant’s functional limitation is causally linked to a medical condition