Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit that helps people with disabilities and long-term health conditions cover the extra costs of daily living. To be eligible for PIP, your condition must affect you for at least 3 months and you must be aged 16 or over and under State Pension age. PIP is not means-tested or taxed and you can get it whether you’re working or not.
How does PIP scoring work?
When you apply for PIP, you’ll be assessed by a health professional to work out the level of help you need. A DWP decision maker will look at your assessment results and additional evidence you provide and award you points for the difficulties you have completing daily living and mobility activities. Your total points for each part determines whether you’re eligible for that component of PIP. There are two components to PIP:
- Daily living component – awarded for help needed with everyday tasks
- Mobility component – awarded for help needed getting around
You can qualify for one or both PIP components depending on your circumstances. Each component has two rates – standard or enhanced. The weekly amounts for 2022/23 are:
| PIP component | Standard rate | Enhanced rate |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living | £61.85 | £92.40 |
| Mobility | £24.45 | £64.50 |
Daily living activities
When assessing eligibility for the daily living component, points are awarded for the level of help needed with the following activities:
- Preparing food
- Taking nutrition
- Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
- Washing and bathing
- Managing toilet needs or incontinence
- Dressing and undressing
- Communicating verbally
- Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words
- Engaging with other people face-to-face
- Making budgeting decisions
For each activity, you’ll be scored as needing either:
- No help (0 points)
- Some help (2 points)
- Supervision/prompting (2 points)
- Assistance (4 points)
- Total assistance (8 points)
Your total points are added up to determine your rate:
- 0 to 7 points – not eligible for daily living component
- 8 to 11 points – standard rate of £61.85 per week
- 12+ points – enhanced rate of £92.40 per week
Mobility activities
When assessing eligibility for the mobility component, points are awarded for the level of help needed with the following activities:
- Planning and following journeys
- Moving around
For each activity you’ll be scored as needing either:
- No help (0 points)
- Some help (4 points)
- Supervision/prompting (6 points)
- Assistance (10 points)
- Total assistance (12 points)
Your total points determine your rate:
- 0 to 7 points – not eligible for mobility component
- 8 to 11 points – standard rate of £24.45 per week
- 12+ points – enhanced rate of £64.50 per week
If you can’t plan and follow journeys due to psychological distress, you’ll usually get the enhanced mobility rate automatically.
How are points awarded?
When deciding how many points to award for each activity, the DWP will consider:
- Whether you need help to complete the activity
- How long it takes you to complete the activity
- How safe you are when completing the activity
- How many times a day you need help with the activity
- Whether you need help every day or on most days
- Whether you need assistance, prompting or supervision to avoid significant harm
They also look at the impact of your health condition or disability on your daily life, any aids and appliances you use, and any medication or treatments.
PIP assessment criteria
This table summarises the assessment criteria used to award points for each daily living and mobility activity:
| Level of help needed | Daily living activities | Mobility activities |
|---|---|---|
| No help needed/minimal help | Can complete the activity unaided | Can plan and follow journeys unaided |
| Some help | Needs help or supervision to be able to complete the activity | – |
| Supervision/prompting | Needs prompting or reminding to be able to complete the activity | Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress |
| Assistance | Needs assistance or physical intervention to be able to complete the activity | Cannot plan the route of a journey or follow the route due to physical or psychological distress |
| Total assistance | Cannot complete the activity at all and needs complete assistance | Unable to navigate even familiar surroundings without accompaniment |
How your disability affects you
It’s important that you give as much detail as possible in your PIP claim about your condition, the help you need and how your disability affects you. Think about:
- How your condition affects you on good and bad days
- Any help or supervision you need from others
- Any aids or appliances you require
- How long tasks take you
- How safe you are completing tasks
- How often your condition varies
Giving lots of detail helps build a clear picture for the DWP and explain why you should get points. Don’t downplay your condition – be clear about all the help you need.
PIP assessment scores
This table shows the number of points and weekly rates you could get for different combinations of PIP component scores:
| Daily living component | Mobility component | Total weekly amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario 1 | Standard rate (8 to 11 points) | Standard rate (8 to 11 points) | £61.85 + £24.45 = £86.30 |
| Scenario 2 | Enhanced rate (12+ points) | Standard rate (8 to 11 points) | £92.40 + £24.45 = £116.85 |
| Scenario 3 | Standard rate (8 to 11 points) | Enhanced rate (12+ points) | £61.85 + £64.50 = £126.35 |
| Scenario 4 | Enhanced rate (12+ points) | Enhanced rate (12+ points) | £92.40 + £64.50 = £156.90 |
How to claim PIP
You can make a new claim for PIP by contacting the DWP on 0800 917 2222. There are also different rules if you want to claim PIP again after an award has ended or if you currently get Disability Living Allowance and want to move to PIP.
When claiming, you’ll need to provide any medical evidence you already have about your condition and the effect it has on you. You’ll also be asked to complete a questionnaire about how your disability affects you which will help determine if you need an assessment.
PIP assessments
Most people need to attend a PIP assessment with a health professional, such as a nurse, who will assess your eligibility face-to-face. This usually happens at an assessment centre but home visits can be arranged if needed. You can take someone along for support.
In the assessment you’ll be asked about your daily living and mobility, medication, treatments, aids you use and how your disability affects what you can do. It usually lasts around an hour. The assessor will write a report for the DWP highlighting what help you need.
PIP award length
If awarded PIP, you’ll usually be given an ‘award review length’ which is the period your award will last for before it’s reviewed. This can be anything between 3 months and 10 years. Awards tend to be longer if your needs aren’t expected to change.
Challenging a PIP decision
You can challenge a PIP decision if your claim is unsuccessful or you were awarded a lower rate than expected. First you need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration where the DWP look at the decision again. If you still disagree, you can lodge an appeal with HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Many people win more points or overturn rejected PIP claims on appeal, so it’s always worth challenging if you think the decision is wrong. You may need help from a welfare rights adviser or Citizens Advice.
Conclusion
The PIP scoring system aims to assess the level of help you need to carry out daily living and mobility activities. Points are awarded based on the difficulty you have completing tasks and whether you need prompting, assistance or total support from others.
Explaining fully how your disability affects you is key to getting the right level of PIP support. Always challenge a decision if you believe you should have been awarded more points than you received.
