The 4-point rule was removed from the Bill
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, as introduced in 2025, contained a 4-point rule that would have required Daily Living claimants to score at least 4 points on a single activity to qualify. The rule was removed at Commons Report Stage on 1 July 2025 after a 49-strong Labour rebellion. It is not in the enacted Act and does not apply to any current or new PIP claims.
What the 4-point rule would have done
As originally drafted, to qualify for any Daily Living award you would have needed to score at least 4 points on a single activity, in addition to reaching the 8-point overall threshold. Claimants scoring 2 points on each of four activities (8 points total) would have been disqualified despite reaching the threshold.
Why it was rejected
The Disability Benefits Consortium estimated 700,000+ current PIP recipients would lose all entitlement under the 4-point rule, even though their overall scores met the 8-point threshold. The rule was widely criticised as arithmetically arbitrary and as a back-door cut to PIP without changing the headline rate or descriptors.
Status now
- The 4-point rule does NOT apply to any new or existing PIP claim.
- The Daily Living standard rate is unlocked at 8 points across the 10 activities, with no single-activity floor.
- Future reform may revisit single-activity thresholds via the Timms Review; nothing has been enacted.