Adult Disability Payment Part 2 Form Help Scotland

Why Part 2 Decides Your Outcome

Part 1 of an Adult Disability Payment application logs your details and locks in your application date. Part 2 is where you describe — in your own words — how your condition affects daily living and mobility. Case Managers at Social Security Scotland score your answers against 12 statutory activities, each with its own point descriptors. A strong Part 2 submission is the single biggest factor in whether you receive an award, and at what rate.

You have 8 weeks (56 calendar days) from submitting Part 1 to return Part 2. If you submit within that window, any award is backdated to your Part 1 date. For an online application, if you do not submit Part 2 within 8 weeks, Social Security Scotland will assume you do not plan to complete it and delete the application 90 days after you started it. You can ask for more time without giving a reason.

Walking Through Each Section

Health conditions and diagnoses. List every relevant condition — physical, mental, cognitive, sensory. Include approximate onset dates. You don't need a formal diagnosis to claim; what matters is functional impact, not labels.

Professional contacts. Name the professionals who know how your condition affects you day to day: GP, hospital consultant, community nurse, occupational therapist, social worker, or community link worker. Social Security Scotland may contact them for supporting information.

Daily living activities (Questions 1–10). These cover preparing food, eating and drinking, managing medication or therapy, washing and bathing, toilet needs, dressing and undressing, communicating verbally, reading signs, engaging with people face to face, and making decisions about money. Each activity has descriptors ranging from "can do it unaided" to "cannot do it at all," with different point values.

Mobility activities (Questions 11–12). Activity 11 asks about planning and following journeys — whether anxiety, confusion, or sensory difficulties stop you navigating routes. Activity 12 asks how far you can walk on flat ground before severe pain, breathlessness, or fatigue stops you.

How to Describe Your Difficulties

The form asks open-ended questions, and many people undersell their situation. Three principles make a difference:

Describe your worst days, not just your best. Regulation 10 selects one descriptor per activity across a 52-week period. If one descriptor applies on more than half the days, it is selected; where no single non-zero descriptor does but two or more together cover more than half the period, the most frequent descriptor is selected, with higher points breaking a tie. If pain stops you cooking three or four days a week, say so — don't just write about the days you manage.

Apply the Regulation 7 reliability test. The Case Manager considers whether you can do an activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly as often as reasonably required, and within a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as it would normally take someone without a limiting condition). If cooking a meal leaves you unable to function for the rest of the day, explain that effect — it may show you cannot repeat the activity as often as reasonably required.

Be specific about what help looks like. "I need help with washing" is vague. "My partner helps me get into and out of the bath because I cannot lift my legs over the side safely — on bad days I can only use a flannel at the sink, which takes about 20 minutes and I need to sit down twice" gives a Case Manager something concrete to score.

Getting Help With the Form

If you need someone to help you fill in the form, a family member, friend, or unpaid carer can assist without needing formal authority. If you want Social Security Scotland to discuss your claim with someone else, you'll need to complete a Third-Party Authorisation Form. An adult who cannot make or communicate decisions because of a mental or physical health condition might need an appointee, appointed through a separate process.

Free help is available from Citizens Advice Scotland bureaux, local authority welfare rights teams, and the independent advocacy service run by Advice Direct Scotland (since January 2026). Wait times for appointments can stretch to 4–8 weeks, though, so don't rely on getting a slot before your Part 2 deadline without requesting a time extension first.

Our ADP claim guide includes structured worksheets for every Part 2 activity — prompt questions, space to note your typical and worst days, and a timeline tracker so nothing slips past the 8-week window.

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