How Does PIP Look at How My Condition Affects Me?

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not awarded simply because you have a particular illness, disability or diagnosis.

Instead, PIP looks at how your condition affects your ability to carry out particular everyday activities and get around.

This is sometimes described as looking at your functional ability.

Understanding this can make the PIP process easier to follow.

What does PIP actually assess?

PIP considers 12 activities.

There are 10 daily living activities and 2 mobility activities.

The daily living activities look at:

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 written information
engaging with other people face to face
making budgeting decisions

The mobility activities look at:

planning and following journeys
moving around

Each activity has its own assessment criteria.

What are PIP descriptors?

Each PIP activity has a number of statements called descriptors.

These describe different levels of ability or support needed to complete the activity.

Different descriptors carry different numbers of points.

The assessment considers which descriptor best reflects how your condition affects you.

Your points for daily living are added together separately from your points for mobility.

This determines whether you qualify for the standard or enhanced rate of either component.

PIP is about more than whether you can physically do something

A common misunderstanding is to think that if you can technically perform an activity, you must answer that you can do it.

PIP looks more closely than this.

For each relevant activity, the assessment considers how you perform it.

An important question is whether you can do it reliably.

What does “reliably” mean?

For PIP, an activity should be considered in terms of whether you can do it:

Safely

To an acceptable standard

Repeatedly

Within a reasonable time period

These principles apply across the PIP activities.

They can make an important difference to how your difficulties are understood.

What does “safely” mean?

Safely means being able to carry out the activity in a way that is unlikely to cause harm to you or somebody else, either during the activity or afterwards.

For example, somebody may technically be able to prepare food but experience difficulties that create a significant risk when using kitchen equipment.

The important point is not simply:

“Can I do it?”

but:

“Can I do it safely?”

What does “to an acceptable standard” mean?

Being able to start or finish an activity does not necessarily mean you can perform it to an acceptable standard.

The result needs to be good enough for the activity being considered.

This will depend on the particular activity and your circumstances.

What does “repeatedly” mean?

PIP also considers whether you can repeat an activity as often as it would reasonably be required.

This can be particularly important for people affected by:

pain
fatigue
breathlessness
weakness
mental distress
other symptoms that become worse after activity

For example, being able to perform an activity once may not give the full picture if doing it leaves you unable to repeat it when reasonably needed later.

Think about what happens after you perform an activity as well as whether you can perform it in the first place.

What is a “reasonable time period”?

For PIP, a reasonable time period generally means no more than twice as long as the maximum time somebody without your health condition or disability would normally take to complete the activity.

So if you can perform something but it takes you substantially longer because of your condition, that can be relevant.

Do not simply say:

“Yes, I can do it.”

Explain how long it actually takes and why.

Does PIP consider help from another person?

Yes.

Depending on the activity, the assessment can consider whether you need:

Assistance, physical help from another person.

Prompting, another person reminding, encouraging or explaining something so that you can carry out the activity.

Supervision, another person being present because you need them to help keep you or somebody else safe.

The type of help that matters depends on the particular PIP activity and descriptor.

What if I need help but nobody actually gives it to me?

Explain the difficulty.

Living alone or not having somebody available to help does not necessarily mean that you do not have a need for assistance, prompting or supervision.

There can be a difference between:

the help you reasonably need

and

the help you actually receive.

Describe what happens when you attempt the activity without support.

What about aids and appliances?

PIP can also consider whether you need an aid or appliance to carry out an activity.

Examples might include specialist or adapted equipment, depending on the activity and your condition.

Again, simply saying that you can complete the activity may not provide the full picture if you can only do so because you rely on particular equipment.

Explain what you use and why you need it.

What if my condition changes from day to day?

PIP is designed to take fluctuating conditions into account.

The assessment does not simply look at how you were feeling on the day you completed the form or attended an assessment.

It considers your difficulties over a longer period.

Broadly, for a scoring descriptor to apply, your condition must affect your ability to carry out the relevant activity on more than half of the days over the relevant 12-month period.

This is sometimes called the majority-of-days rule.

What if I have good days and bad days?

Describe both.

Avoid presenting only your worst day.

But do not present your best day as though it represents every day either.

Think about:

how many days you experience the difficulty
how your better and worse days differ
what help you need on different days
whether difficulties change during the day
whether one activity affects what you can do afterwards

A simple diary can sometimes help you identify patterns that are difficult to remember afterwards.

Does pain or fatigue matter?

It can.

Pain, fatigue, breathlessness and other symptoms can be relevant when considering whether an activity can be completed reliably.

For example, you may be physically capable of performing an activity once but experience symptoms afterwards that mean you cannot reasonably repeat it.

Explain:

what happens while you do the activity

and

what happens afterwards.

What about anxiety or psychological distress?

Mental health effects can also be relevant to PIP activities where they affect your functional ability.

For example, anxiety or psychological distress may affect somebody’s ability to engage with other people or undertake journeys.

However, simply experiencing anxiety does not automatically result in PIP points.

The assessment considers how the difficulty relates to the particular activity and descriptor.

Should I describe a typical day?

A typical day can provide useful context, but avoid stopping there.

PIP assesses specific activities.

It can therefore be more useful to explain each relevant activity individually.

For example:

Preparing food

What happens when I try to prepare and cook a simple meal?

Washing

Can I get into and out of the bath or shower? Do I need help or equipment?

Mixing with people

What happens when I need to engage with somebody face to face?

Journeys

Can I plan and follow journeys independently?

This helps connect your everyday experience to the activities PIP actually assesses.

Use real examples where possible

General statements can be difficult to understand.

Instead of only saying:

“I struggle with cooking.”

explain what that means.

For example:

what part of the activity causes difficulty
what happens when you attempt it
what help you need
whether you use equipment
how long it takes
whether there is a risk
whether you can repeat the activity
how often the problem occurs

Real examples can make the effect of your condition much clearer.

Think about what you have adapted without noticing

When somebody has lived with a condition for a long time, they may gradually change how they live.

You might:

avoid certain activities
rely on somebody else
use equipment
take much longer
organise your day around fatigue
choose familiar routes
avoid going somewhere alone
simplify meals
build routines around your condition

You may no longer think of these things as support or adaptations.

But they can help explain how your condition affects you.

Focus on your circumstances, not somebody else’s

Do not try to work out whether your condition is “bad enough” by comparing yourself with another person.

PIP does not assess whether you are more or less disabled than somebody else with the same diagnosis.

The question is how your condition affects your ability to carry out the defined activities.

That is the picture your claim should explain.

7.18: What Is Personal Independence Payment (PIP)?

7.19: Can I Claim PIP if I’m Working?

7.20: Can I Get PIP if I Have Savings?

7.21: Can I Claim PIP for a Mental Health Condition?

7.23: What Happens at a PIP Assessment?

7.24: My PIP Claim Has Been Refused, What Can I Do Next?

7.25: What Is a PIP Mandatory Reconsideration?

7.26: How Do I Challenge a PIP Decision?

Important information

This guide provides general information and is not intended to provide benefits, legal, medical or other professional advice. PIP assessment rules and criteria can change, and individual circumstances can be different. Check current information from official sources or seek advice from an appropriately qualified benefits adviser if you need help understanding how the PIP criteria may apply to your circumstances.