How the PIP points system works - descriptors and activities

Summary

Understand how the Personal Independence Payment points system works and what you will need to show so that you get the right amount of benefit if you have a health condition or disability. This information applies in England, Wales, and Scotland. It will also be helpful for claimants in Northern Ireland where the rules are the same but the names of relevant government departments are different. Whether or not you are entitled to PIP is based on how your illness and treatment affects you and what help you need with very specific things. Here, we explain everything you need to understand about how PIP works - whether you are applying for it, preparing for an assessment, or trying to work out if you should challenge an unfair decision. 1. Daily living component \- this part looks at the difficulties you have with daily tasks like cooking or washing. 2. Mobility component \- this part looks at the difficulties you have when moving around outdoors. PIP uses a points system. For example, if you need help from another person to wash your hair, you get 2 points. If you need help to get into the shower or bath you get 3 points, etc. You only score one set of points from each activity (for.

Key information

• Understand how the Personal Independence Payment points system works and what you will need to show so that you get the right amount of benefit if you have a health condition or disability.
• This information applies in England, Wales, and Scotland. It will also be helpful for claimants in Northern Ireland where the rules are the same but the names of relevant government departments are different.
• Whether or not you are entitled to PIP is based on how your illness and treatment affects you and what help you need with very specific things. Here, we explain everything you need to understand about how PIP works - whether you are applying for it, preparing for an assessment, or trying to work out if you should challenge an unfair decision.
• 1. Daily living component \- this part looks at the difficulties you have with daily tasks like cooking or washing. 2. Mobility component \- this part looks at the difficulties you have when moving around outdoors.
• PIP uses a points system. For example, if you need help from another person to wash your hair, you get 2 points. If you need help to get into the shower or bath you get 3 points, etc.
• You only score one set of points from each activity (for example, if you meet two descriptors in 'washing and bathing', you cannot receive points for both. Instead, you select the one with the highest points).
• It doesn't matter if you actually get this help or not. (For example, if you need someone else’s help to cook a proper meal with fresh ingredients, you are entitled to those points. It doesn’t matter if, in reality, nobody helps you so you don’t cook meals).
• It is not only physical difficulties that should be considered, the impact of any mental health conditions or medication should be too. For example, while you may have no physical difficulty that prevents you from washing without help, you may need prompting, reminding, or encouraging to wash due to a mental health condition or a side-effect of your medication.
• You have to fit the difficulties you have with each activity to one of the descriptors - you don't get any points for having a different difficulty.
• If the only way you can do something is to do it badly, unsafely, slowly or only occasionally, the correct descriptor is the one that says you can’t do it.
• Similarly if you can’t do a task as many times as you might need, or if doing it causes you pain, tiredness, breathlessness, nausea, or makes your condition worse, the correct descriptor is the one that says you can’t do it.
• Award| Daily living points needed | Mobility points needed ---|---|--- Standard| 8-11 points| 8-11 points Enhanced| 12 or more| 12 or more

Practical guidance

• Source: How the PIP points system works - descriptors and activities

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