Adult Disability Payment Nil Award — What to Do If You Score Zero Points

A nil award means no Daily Living or Mobility component was awarded; that can happen even when you scored some points. It is one of the most disheartening outcomes of an ADP application. If you have a genuine condition that affects your daily life, a nil award does not necessarily mean the system worked correctly. It often means the application did not capture your functional difficulties in the way the scoring framework requires.

Why Nil Awards Happen

The most common reasons for a zero-point decision are not about whether your condition is real. They include:

Under-reporting on good days. Many applicants describe what they can manage on their better days without explaining the frequency, severity, and consequences of their worse days. ADP uses a 50% rule — a descriptor applies if it describes your ability on more than half the days in a 52-week period.

Missing the reliability test. You might be able to do an activity, but Regulation 7 asks whether you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly throughout the day, and within a reasonable time. If you can cook a meal but it takes you three times as long and leaves you unable to do anything else for the rest of the day, that matters.

Insufficient supporting information. Social Security Scotland needs one piece of supporting information from a professional to process an application. You can still apply without it and ask them to collect it, though this may take longer. If your GP records are sparse or outdated, the case manager may not have enough context to score activities in your favour.

Read Your Decision Letter Carefully

Your Notice of Determination sets out the points you scored for each of the 12 activities (10 Daily Living, 2 Mobility). Go through each one and compare the descriptor the case manager chose against what you actually experience. The letter also explains the reasons for each score.

Look specifically for:

• Activities where you scored 0 but know you need help or supervision
• Activities where your worst days were not mentioned
• Any factual errors about your condition or daily routine

Request a Redetermination

You have 42 calendar days from when you were informed of your right to request a redetermination to submit your request. This is an internal review by a different team within Social Security Scotland — not by the person who made the original decision.

In your redetermination request, you can:

• Explain where you think the decision was wrong, activity by activity
• Submit new supporting evidence (a carer's statement, an updated GP letter, a specialist report)
• Clarify anything you feel was misunderstood or omitted

The redetermination team has 56 calendar days to complete its review. In statistics to 31 July 2026, 47% of first-decision redeterminations were allowed, so a nil award is far from the final word.

What Redetermination Cannot Do

Redetermination is only available for the decision you received. Since you had no previous ADP award, Short-Term Assistance does not apply — STA protects people whose existing award is reduced or stopped during a challenge, not first-time applicants who were refused.

If the redetermination upholds the nil award, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. This is a fully independent judicial body, separate from Social Security Scotland entirely.

Strengthening a Second Attempt

Whether you challenge the decision or eventually reapply, the key is translating your daily experience into the language the scoring system uses. Our ADP claim guide includes a decision audit worksheet that maps every activity against the point descriptors, so you can see exactly where your score fell short and what evidence would bridge the gap.

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