• Own Occupation Test – This looks at your ability to do your usual job. It will apply if you have worked for more than 16 hours a week, for 8 out of the last 21 weeks. It applies if you are: a paid employee, paid from self-employment, or on sick leave (paid or unpaid). If you are still incapable of work after 28 weeks the Personal Capability Assessment will then apply.
  
  
• Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) – This assesses the extent to which your MS (and any other conditions you may have) affect your ability to carry out a range of activities, both physical and mental. It involves completing a multiple-choice questionnaire called form IB50. You may also be seen by a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) doctor some weeks later, who will ask questions about your daily living and how you manage to do the activities referred to in the questionnaire. It is always important to explain the effects of MS and not to underestimate any problems you have. Describe your difficulties on both good and bad days.

Exemption

Note that you are exempt from the PCA if you are considered to have 'a severe and progressive neurological or muscle wasting disease'. If you receive an IB50 questionnaire and believe that you should be exempt from the assessment on this basis, you should to try to obtain medical evidence confirming this and send it to the DWP with a request that you should be exempt. 

Last Updated:

Reviewed by: Ian Greaves, Disability Rights Handbook editor, Disability Alliance. May 2006.