PIP daily living points table

How the daily living points work

The daily living part of PIP looks at ten everyday activities. For each activity there is a list of statements, called descriptors, that describe different levels of difficulty. Each descriptor is worth a number of points, from 0 upwards.

The health professional who carries out the assessment, and then the DWP decision maker, choose the one descriptor in each activity that best matches how the person manages that activity. The points from all ten activities are then added together.

You score only one descriptor per activity — the highest one that applies. You cannot add up two descriptors from the same activity.

How many points are needed

For the daily living component, the totals are:

Mobility is scored separately using two different activities, with the same 8 and 12 point thresholds. See PIP mobility points table.

The ten daily living activities and their points

The descriptors below are the official ones. For each activity, only the single highest-scoring descriptor that applies is counted.

1. Preparing food

2. Taking nutrition

3. Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition

4. Washing and bathing

5. Managing toilet needs or incontinence

6. Dressing and undressing

7. Communicating verbally

8. Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words

9. Engaging with other people face to face

10. Making budgeting decisions

Important rules the assessment uses

Two rules matter a great deal when descriptors are chosen:

The “more than half the days” rule. A descriptor only applies if it is true on more than 50% of days, looking across a 12-month period (the 3 months before the claim and the 9 months after). If different descriptors apply on different days, the one that applies most often is usually chosen.

The “reliably” rule. A person is only counted as able to do an activity if they can do it reliably — meaning safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and in a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as someone without the condition). If they cannot do it reliably, a higher-scoring descriptor may apply.

How points map to a rate

You add up the highest descriptor from each activity. The total decides which rate (if any) applies. The worked example below shows how.

A worked example

This is a general illustration to show how the points add up. It is not advice, and it does not predict any real decision — only the DWP decides, based on each person’s own circumstances and evidence.

Imagine a person whose condition affects several daily activities. On more than half of days they:

• need supervision to prepare and cook a meal safely — Preparing food: 4 points
• need help to wash the parts of their body between the shoulders and waist — Washing and bathing: 4 points
• need help to dress or undress their upper body — Dressing and undressing: 4 points

Adding these together gives 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 points. In this illustration that would reach the enhanced rate threshold for the daily living component.

A different person might reach 8 points (standard rate) from a different mix of activities. The point of the example is only to show the mechanics: choose the highest descriptor in each activity, then add the activities together.

Next steps

• Read about PIP daily living in more detail.
• See the PIP mobility points table for the mobility activities.
• Understand PIP reliability rules, which often affect scoring.
• Find out what counts as PIP evidence and how to describe your difficulties.
• Official source: GOV.UK — how your disability affects you.