Personal Independence Payment is a benefit designed to help with the extra costs caused by ill-health or disability. It consists of two parts, each of which can be at the standard rate or the enhanced rate. This page is about the Daily Living component.

Two rates of daily living component are:

• Standard rate – if you have a limited ability to carry out daily living activities
• Enhanced rate – if you have a severely limited ability to carry out daily living activities

Do you live in Scotland?

Adult Disability Payment (ADP) is gradually replacing PIP and the version of DLA paid to adults but not child DLA. From 29 August it will be available for all new claims across Scotland. See our Adult Disability Payment daily living component help page for more information.

These benefits currently provide the same support but if you are already getting PIP or DLA you will be contacted about moving onto ADP instead. You can also choose to move earlier if you want or you may be asked to move if you have a change of circumstances. Social Security Scotland has said there won’t be a review of award levels for anyone being transferred from DLA to ADP and that there will be no gaps in payment. 

Who can qualify for Personal Independence Payment?

Most people will have a face to face consultation with a health professional to assess their daily living needs as part of the activity test. The person’s circumstances are compared with a set of criteria to determine if they are entitled to help. In order to qualify for PIP a person has to score a certain number of points in relation to 10 activities. These are:

• Preparing food
• Taking nutrition
• Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
• Washing and bathing
• Managing toilet needs or incontinence
• Dressing and undressing
• Communicating verbally
• Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words
• Engaging with other people face to face
• Making budgeting decisions

Each of these activities has a set of descriptors which, if they describe a person’s condition, grant them a points score. For example, under the Preparing Food activity if someone “Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal” they are awarded two points, but if they “Need supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal” the award is four points.

The number of points awarded are used to decide what type of PIP a person is entitled to and what level of award they receive. The person claiming must have the required number of points for the three months before they made their claim and they must be expected to have them for the following nine months.