How PIP points work

PIP uses a descriptor scoring system. Each of the 10 Daily Living activities and 2 Mobility activities has several descriptors with point values. Your highest-scoring descriptor on each activity counts, and the points are summed across the component.

All figures on this page are taken from Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 (DWP, published April 2026) and the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Act 2025. Author: Oliver Wakefield-Smith. Last full review: 22 June 2026. Next scheduled review: April 2027 (post-uprating). See the full sources register.

Thresholds

Daily Living and Mobility are scored separately

The two components are independent. You can score enhanced on Mobility and zero on Daily Living, or any combination. A common scenario is 8 points on Daily Living and 12 on Mobility, which pays standard Daily Living plus enhanced Mobility.

Where the descriptors come from

The descriptors and point values are set in Schedule 1 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. They have not changed in 2026/27; the 4-point rule that would have altered the Daily Living scoring threshold was removed from the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on 1 July 2025.

One descriptor per activity

You score the highest descriptor that applies to you most of the time (the reliability test). Two descriptors from the same activity do not stack. Two activities, of course, do stack: scoring 2 on Activity 1 and 2 on Activity 4 gives you 4 points on Daily Living.

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