Can I get Personal Independence Payment (PIP)?
You may be entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) if you have daily living and/or mobility needs.
Unless you are terminally ill or you are transferring onto PIP from Disability Living Allowance (DLA), your needs must:
- Have lasted for the past three months, and
- Be expected to continue for the next nine months
Daily living needs
You may have daily living needs if your disability or health condition means you need help doing these things to look after yourself:
- Make food or cook
- Eat and drink
- Take your medication
- Do your treatment
- Wash and bathe
- Go to toilet
- Dress and undress
- Speak
- Read and understand
- Socialise
- Handle money
It doesn't matter whether you actually get the help you need.
Help can include things like encouraging or reminding you to do something.
Mobility needs
You may have mobility needs if you need help to get around outside your home independently.
For example, you may count as having mobility needs if you need help to plan and follow a journey because of a learning difficulty, a mental health issue or a sensory impairment.
You may count as having mobility needs if you have difficulty walking or are unable to walk.
What help counts
You count as needing help to do an activity if you need a person or a thing to:
- Do it for you
- Do it with you
- Remind you to do it
- Watch you do it to keep you safe
You may count as needing help if you need help but do not actually get it. For example, if you do an activity yourself but:
- It isn’t safe
- You can’t do it well enough
- You can’t do it often enough
- It takes you a long time.
Find out if you qualify
To qualify for PIP, you have to score enough points on the PIP test for daily living or mobility (or both). For more information about when points are given, check out our Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Test guide.
Reviewed November 2021