PIP form question 9: communicating verbally

This two-part question asks if your condition makes it hard for you to speak to others so they can understand you, and if you struggle hearing and understanding what other people say to you.

It doesn’t matter if English is your first language or not as you’ll be assessed on how hard you find it to communicate in your native language.

If you’re deaf or have hearing loss, this will probably be the most important question on the form.

How to answer question 9a

This is a tick-box yes or no answer: does your condition affect you talking, listening and understanding?

You should tick ‘yes’ if you:

use a hearing aid or amplifier
use something to help others understand you, such as a pen and paper or an electro larynx
use things like a textphone
need an interpreter or signer
lip-read
use any other aids to communicate

You should also tick ‘yes’ if:

a friend or family member fills in gaps in conversations for you
you have autism and find it hard to talk to people
you have Tourette’s syndrome
your medication makes it hard for you to follow conversations

If you need help but don’t get it, you should also check ‘yes’.

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How to answer question 9b

This part of the question gives you space to explain how your condition affects your ability to communicate. Include as many details as possible as your answer will be used to decide if you get PIP.

What should I mention

When answering this question, list everything you use to help with communication, even if it seems obvious to you. Be sure to mention if anyone helps you, and if you have good or bad days due to your condition.

Aids

List all the aids you use to help you communicate e.g. hearing aid.

Explain how each aid helps you, what life would be like without it and if a health professional has told you to use it.

My communication difficulties mean I’m at risk of harm

Say if difficulties communicating have ever caused you harm or have the potential to put you in harm’s way e.g. if there was an occasion when you were unable to communicate you needed medical help or that you have an allergy.

You should mention how often you’re at risk of this happening, even if it’s rare, and if there is anything you can do to reduce the risk e.g. having someone there to speak on your behalf.

Good and bad days

Be clear if you have good and bad days, explaining how these are different for you and what you do to cope.

You should also mention how often you have bad days and if you have more bad days than good.

Consider how long it takes you to communicate with someone – do you need to repeat things or have them repeated to you?

The decision on whether to award you PIP will be based on how your condition affects you most of the time.

Someone else helps me

Mention any help you receive from other people in this section, including:

who helps you e.g. a carer, friend or family member
why you need their help
what they do to help
how often they help

Include if someone has to:

explain what you’re saying to people
explain what someone is saying to you
interpret using sign language

Explain how you would cope without this help. For example, you might struggle to follow a conversation or miss an important instruction or fire alarm.

Example answer

I have been profoundly deaf since birth. Even though I wear two hearing aids, I rely primarily on sign language to understand other people.

As well as my hearing aids, my audiologist recommended I install a smoke alarm which uses a strobe light and vibrating pads at home. I also have a textphone.

British Sign Language (BSL) is my first language and my partner interprets conversations for me. I rely heavily on my partner to help me communicate.

Without my partner, I’m unable to communicate with other people except for friends and family who know BSL.

Because my deafness is so severe, other people can sometimes struggle to understand me as my speech is also affected. When this happens, I have to repeat myself multiple times, or my partner has to explain what I’m trying to say.

Unless I write down what I want to say using a pen and paper, I’m excluded from conversations with people who don’t know BSL.

Because of this, I can feel very isolated often avoid talking to people, especially if I don’t know them.

If you need help filling in the rest of your PIP form, continue to our guide on question 10.