PIP Points Calculator

The short answer

• PIP has two parts: daily living and mobility. Each is scored separately.
• 8 to 11 points in a part gives the standard rate. 12 or more gives the enhanced rate.
• The most you can get is £194.60 a week, or £10,119.20 a year.
• It is based on how your condition affects you, not on the condition itself.

How much PIP is

PIP is paid every four weeks. The 2026/27 rates apply from April 2026.

Who can get PIP

• You are aged 16 or over and under State Pension age when you claim.
• You have had difficulties for at least 3 months and expect them to last at least 9 more months.
• You normally live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment has replaced PIP.

Your income, savings and whether you work make no difference. If you are terminally ill, with a life expectancy of 12 months or less, you can claim under special rules: you get the enhanced daily living rate straight away and the claim is fast-tracked. Children under 16 get Disability Living Allowance instead, and people over State Pension age claim Attendance Allowance.

How the points system works

There are 10 daily living activities and 2 mobility activities. Each has a list of descriptors, from “can do this unaided” (0 points) up to the most severe difficulty. You score the descriptor that applies to you on more than half of days over a year. If two descriptors apply, you get the higher one.

Points from each daily living activity are added together, and points from the two mobility activities are added together. They never mix: 6 points in each part is not 12.

The daily living activities

The activities cover mental health conditions, learning disabilities and sensory impairments as well as physical conditions. Prompting means someone reminding, encouraging or explaining. Supervision means someone being there to keep you safe.

The mobility activities

Planning and following journeys is about your ability to work out and follow a route, and whether anxiety or distress stops you going out. It scores up to 12 points if you cannot follow even a familiar route without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.

Moving around is about physically standing and moving, with any aid you would normally use, such as a stick. The key distances are 200 metres, 50 metres and 20 metres.

The reliability test

You can only be treated as able to do an activity if you can do it:

• safely, without risk of harm to you or anyone else;
• to an acceptable standard;
• repeatedly, as often as reasonably needed;
• in a reasonable time, no more than twice as long as someone without your condition.

Worked examples

In both examples, three more daily living points would mean the enhanced rate of £114.60 instead of £76.70, an extra £1,970.80 a year.

How a claim works

1. Step 1Start the claim

   By phone or online. This date is when payment can start from.

2. Step 2Fill in 'How your disability affects you'

   Usually within one month. This form matters most.

3. Step 3Assessment

   By phone, video or in person with a health professional.

4. Step 4Decision letter

   Shows the points for each activity and how long the award lasts.

Claims typically take several months. Payments are backdated to the date you started the claim, so start it as soon as you can.

Evidence that helps

• Letters from your GP, consultant, nurse, occupational therapist or mental health worker describing how the condition affects you.
• Care plans, prescriptions lists and hospital letters.
• A diary of a week or two, showing what you could and could not do, and how long things took.
• A statement from someone who helps you, such as a family member or support worker.

On the form, go through each activity and explain which descriptor applies and why, with examples. Do not assume the assessor knows what your diagnosis means for you day to day.

If you disagree with the decision

You can ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the decision letter. Explain which descriptors you think should apply and send any new evidence. If the decision does not change, you can appeal to an independent tribunal.

Appeals succeed in a large share of PIP cases that reach a tribunal, often because the panel hears directly from the claimant. Note that the tribunal looks at the whole award, so it can lower as well as raise it.

What a PIP award unlocks

PIP can also add extra amounts to other benefits, such as the severe disability addition in Pension Credit, and some councils give Council Tax discounts or free bus passes.

PIP and other benefits

PIP is ignored as income for Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit, so it never reduces them. It is tax-free. It does not affect the Universal Credit health element, which depends on a separate Work Capability Assessment.

When you reach State Pension age you keep PIP, and the award is usually reviewed less often. You cannot claim PIP for the first time after State Pension age, but you can claim Attendance Allowance instead.

Aids and appliances

Many descriptors score points simply because you need an aid or appliance, such as a perching stool to cook, a shower seat, grab rails, a raised toilet seat, adapted cutlery or a dressing aid. What counts is whether you need it, not whether you have it.

If an occupational therapist has assessed you or you have been given equipment, say so on the form. If you would struggle without an aid you do not yet have, explain why you need it.

Conditions that come and go

The 50% rule decides which descriptor applies when your condition varies. A descriptor applies if it is true on more than half of the days in a 12-month period. If a higher descriptor applies on 40% of days and a lower one on 30%, so that together they apply on more than half, you score the one that applies most often: here, the higher one.

Keep a diary for a few weeks, noting good and bad days. It turns “it varies” into evidence the decision maker can use.

Mental health and PIP

More than a third of people getting PIP have a mental health condition as their main condition. The activities that matter most are mixing with other people, making budgeting decisions, planning and following journeys, and needing prompting to prepare food, eat, wash, dress or take medication.

Prompting counts even if you could physically do the task. If you would not wash or eat for days without someone encouraging you, that scores points. A letter from a community mental health team, psychiatrist or support worker is particularly useful.

Award reviews

Before your award ends you will be sent a review form. Fill it in as carefully as the first claim, even if nothing has changed, and send new evidence. People over State Pension age, and those with conditions that will not improve, often get long awards with only a light-touch review.

Key numbers for 2026/27