Mentioning dog walking in PIP claim for Fibromyalgia

cattleandcane23
cattleandcane23 Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener

A family member has Fibromyalgia and suffers from severe pain and fatigue. However, she still tries to do some short dog walks with her dog as walking and moving around are important for her overall health and wellbeing to stop her joints and muscles from seizing up.  If this happens the pain is even worse.  In addition, being outside helps improve her mood.

is mentioning dog walking likely to adversely affect her chances of making a successful PIP claim please?  Thank you 


Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 62,453 Championing
    It has been known to go against you. Questions around pets are often asked at a PIP assessment.
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 3,469 Championing
    Sadly the Mobility descriptors are very basic, only really taking length of walk into consideration.  

    Assuming the dog walk is more than 200 metres on the majority of days, they would be unlikely to receive any points at all for the physical descriptor.

    (If you're not aware of the descriptors, they can be found here - PIP - table of activities, descriptors and points (citizensadvice.org.uk) )