Regulation 7 Adult Disability Payment — The Reliability Criteria

What Regulation 7 Says

Regulation 7 of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 sets out four conditions that are used to decide which descriptor applies. You are considered able to carry out an activity only if you can do so under all four conditions. Failing one criterion does not itself award points; the Case Manager must choose the descriptor that reflects your ability under the reliability test.

The four conditions:

1. Safely — in a manner unlikely to cause harm to you or another person, either during or after the activity, taking account of how likely harm is and how severe its consequences could be
2. To an acceptable standard — to a reasonable standard for the activity, taking account of the impact on you of carrying it out to that standard
3. Repeatedly — as often as the activity is reasonably required
4. Within a reasonable time — taking no more than twice as long as a person without a condition that limits the activity would normally take

Why This Changes Everything

For example, if someone can technically cook a meal but risks burning themselves because of tremors and then needs to lie down for two hours, the Case Manager must consider that risk and whether they can repeat the activity as often as reasonably required. The descriptor that fits their ability under those conditions determines the points.

This applies to every single one of the 12 ADP activities. It's not an add-on for edge cases — it's the framework that the Case Manager is supposed to apply to every descriptor decision.

How to Use It in Your Application

When you're completing Part 2 of your ADP application, don't just write about whether you can or can't do something. For each activity, consider all four tests:

Safety. Have you ever hurt yourself doing this activity? Do you risk falls, burns, cuts, or collapsing? Do you put others at risk — for example, forgetting a cooker is on? Include near-misses, not just actual injuries.

Acceptable standard. Can you actually achieve a useful result? If you can technically wash yourself but only manage your face and hands, that's not an acceptable standard of washing. If you can cook but the food is frequently inedible because you lose track of what you're doing, say so.

Repeatedly. Can you do this as often as the activity is reasonably required? For example, explain whether you can change clothes if an incontinence episode happens or make a second trip when that is reasonably required.

Reasonable time. Does the activity take you more than twice as long as someone without your condition? If getting dressed takes 40 minutes when it would normally take 10, that fails the reasonable-time test. If preparing a simple meal takes over an hour, note the specific time.

Combining Regulation 7 With the 50% Rule

Regulation 7 works alongside Regulation 10. Regulation 10 looks across a 52-week required period — 13 weeks ending with the relevant date and 39 weeks after it. If one descriptor applies on more than 50% of days, it is selected; if several do, the highest-scoring applies. If none does alone but two or more non-zero descriptors together cover more than half the period, the most frequent descriptor applies, with higher points breaking a tie.

So if pain makes cooking unsafe three days a week and you manage the other four, the "unsafe" descriptor applies on 3 out of 7 days — less than 50%, so it doesn't count under Regulation 10. But if it's four or more days out of seven, it does. This is why describing the frequency of your difficulties is essential.

What the Case Manager Looks For

Case Managers are trained to apply Regulation 7 when scoring, but they can only work with what's in your application. Vague statements like "I find cooking difficult" don't trigger any of the four tests. Specific statements do: "I burn myself on the hob about twice a week because my hands shake — I have two scars on my right forearm from this year."

Time references are particularly useful. "Getting dressed takes me about 35–40 minutes most mornings because of stiffness and pain" directly engages the reasonable-time test. "I can only cook once a day because doing it a second time is impossible after the fatigue from the first time" directly engages the repeatability test.

Our ADP claim guide structures every activity worksheet around the four Regulation 7 criteria, with specific prompts for safety, standard, repeatability, and time — so you don't have to remember the legal framework while you're describing your daily life.

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