PIP communicating verbally: how to describe your difficulties
A calm, practical guide to the PIP communicating verbally activity (Question 9 on the PIP2 form). Understand what the DWP means by verbal communication, how to describe your difficulties with speaking and understanding, and see example notes. This is reference-only and not legal, medical, or benefits advice.
What this activity covers
Activity 7 on the PIP assessment covers your ability to communicate verbally. This is a two-way process: it looks at both your ability to express yourself (speaking so others understand you) and your ability to understand what others say to you.
The assessment considers how you communicate in normal, everyday situations with ordinary people, not in sheltered or controlled environments. If you can communicate well in a quiet room with someone who knows you but struggle in a shop, on the phone, or with strangers, the everyday situation is what counts.
The DWP distinguishes between basic and complex verbal information. Basic verbal information is a simple sentence, for example “Can I help you?” or “The time is three o’clock.” Complex verbal information is more than one sentence or a complicated sentence, for example “I would like tea please, just a splash of milk and no sugar.”
Lip reading is not considered an acceptable way to understand verbal communication for this activity. If you rely on lip reading, you should describe your difficulties without it.
How the DWP scores this activity
You are matched to the one descriptor that applies for more than half of the time. This activity has some of the highest point values in the daily living component.
| Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|
| Can express and understand verbal information unaided | 0 |
| Needs to use an aid or appliance to speak or hear | 2 |
| Needs communication support to express or understand complex verbal information | 4 |
| Needs communication support to express or understand basic verbal information | 8 |
| Cannot express or understand verbal information at all even with communication support | 12 |
“Communication support” means support from a person trained or experienced in communicating with people with specific communication needs. This includes interpreting verbal information into non-verbal form and vice versa. It can be provided by family and friends, not just professional interpreters.
Writing your notes for this activity
Examples: describing verbal communication difficulties
Below are examples of how you might describe your difficulties with this activity. These are for illustration only and should not be copied into your own form. Always describe your own experience.
“I wear hearing aids in both ears but I still struggle to follow conversation in any environment with background noise. In shops and cafes I often cannot hear what people are saying even with my hearing aids in. I cannot use the phone because I cannot hear well enough, so my wife makes all phone calls for me. When I go to appointments my wife comes with me and repeats things I have not caught. Without her I would miss important information.”
“Since my stroke I have difficulty finding words and my speech is slurred. People who know me can understand me most of the time, but strangers often cannot. I cannot explain complex things like describing my symptoms to a doctor without my daughter helping me. Simple things like asking for something in a shop are possible but anything more complex I need support with. I get frustrated and upset when people cannot understand me, which makes my speech worse.”
“When I am anxious my mind goes completely blank and I cannot speak. This happens in any unfamiliar situation or with people I do not know well. I cannot make or answer phone calls at all. When I go to appointments my mum speaks for me because I freeze up. Even in a shop I struggle to ask for help. I can communicate at home with my family but outside the house or with strangers I often cannot get words out at all.”
“I struggle to process spoken information, especially if it is complex or if someone speaks quickly. I need extra time to understand what has been said and I often need people to repeat things or break them down into simpler sentences. In group conversations I cannot keep up at all. I can manage basic exchanges like greetings but anything involving instructions, explanations, or multiple pieces of information at once is very difficult. My support worker helps me at appointments because I miss or misunderstand important information.”
Using GuidedPIPs
GuidedPIPs walks you through the communicating verbally activity with guided prompts tailored to your conditions. It helps you describe your difficulties step by step, covering speaking, understanding, aids, and the support you need, so you do not have to figure out the structure on your own.
You can start for free and decide whether full access is right for you.