The Short Answer
Arthritis scores PIP points mainly through aid and assistance descriptors, and needing an aid is enough on its own. Seven daily living activities contain a descriptor worth 2 points where an aid or appliance is reasonably required, so four of them reach the 8-point standard rate. Moving around adds mobility points by distance. The calculator above scores the seven activities involved.
How Arthritis Scores PIP Points
Seven activities carry most arthritis claims, and the aid descriptors link them. The table sets out what each activity assesses, the descriptors that turn on restricted movement and grip, and what those descriptors are worth.
| Activity | What it assesses | Descriptors typically engaged | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobility 2 — Moving around | standing and then moving, judged without severe discomfort such as pain or fatigue | b, c, d, e | 4–12 |
| Daily living 6 — Dressing and undressing | dressing and undressing, which may involve stretching, reaching, bending and gripping | b, d, e, f | 2–8 |
| Daily living 4 — Washing and bathing | washing and bathing, including getting in and out of an unadapted bath or shower | b, d, e, f | 2–4 |
| Daily living 1 — Preparing food | preparing and cooking a simple meal, including opening packaging, peeling and chopping | b, c, e, f | 2–8 |
| Daily living 2 — Taking nutrition | taking nutrition, including where assistance is needed to cut up food | b | 2 |
| Daily living 5 — Managing toilet needs or incontinence | getting on and off an unadapted toilet and cleaning afterwards | b, d | 2–4 |
| Daily living 3 — Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | managing medication and therapy at home, which includes physiotherapy | b, c, d | 1–4 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Where this mapping comes from
Descriptor letters and point values are reproduced from Schedule 1 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. The activities listed are the ones whose published assessment guidance names the functions this condition is reported to affect. No activity is listed on any other basis.
Activities are numbered as Schedule 1 numbers them, within each component: daily living 1 to 10 and mobility 1 to 2.
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 12: “This activity considers a claimant's physical ability to move around without severe discomfort, such as breathlessness, pain or fatigue.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 6: “Dressing and undressing may involve stretching, reaching, bending, gripping and other such movements.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 4: “Consideration should be given to the claimant's functional restrictions to see if they: could reasonably use an aid such as a grab rail to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower (4B) or whether they require assistance (4E) to get in and out of an unadapted bath or shower.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 1: “If an individual cannot cook at all because they have never needed to learn, consider their ability to carry out activities at or above waist height and their cognitive ability to use a stove or microwave if shown how.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 2: “The frequency of taking nutrition should only be considered if the claimant has an underlying condition which affects their ability to remember to eat, or their motivation to eat e.g. dementia or severe clinical depression or an eating disorder.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 5: “This activity considers a claimant's ability to get on and off the toilet, to manage evacuation of the bladder and/or bowel and to clean afterwards.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 3: “Examples of therapy include physiotherapy, home dialysis and special diets where both attention to the nature and timing of food is integral in the management of the diet.”
The 2-point rows are the ones most often under-claimed. An aid does not have to be prescribed, fitted or expensive; the test is whether it is reasonably required. Four such descriptors take a daily living total to 8 points, which pays the standard rate on its own. The PIP points calculator scores all twelve activities.
Can You Get PIP for Arthritis?
Yes, where arthritis limits the assessed activities on more than half of the days over a 12-month period. GOV.UK states the test as expecting difficulty "more than half of the days over a 12-month period". The type of arthritis makes no difference to the test. Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and the rest are all assessed on what they stop you doing reliably.
The duration test is normally met by the diagnosis itself, because these are long-term conditions. What decides the claim is the frequency test and the descriptor evidence: which activities are affected, on how many days, and what help is needed.
What Rate Could Arthritis Get?
The rate follows the points in each component separately. Daily living pays £76.70 a week at the standard rate and £114.60 at the enhanced rate. Mobility pays £30.30 and £80.00.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
A claim scoring four 2-point aid descriptors on daily living and 4 points on moving around receives the daily living standard rate only, at £76.70 a week. Adding two more daily living descriptors and reaching 12 points changes the daily living rate to £114.60, which is £152.40 more every 4 weeks.
Why Aids and Appliances Are Worth Points on Their Own
Most arthritis claims are built from 2-point descriptors, and the aid descriptors are the reason. Seven of the ten daily living activities contain a descriptor that scores where an aid or appliance is needed, and needing one is enough on its own — the activity does not have to be impossible. Four such descriptors reach the 8-point standard-rate threshold for the daily living component.
An aid is defined broadly and includes items bought without a prescription. A long-handled shoehorn, a jar opener, a perching stool, a shower seat, an electric tin opener and a grab rail all count where they are reasonably required. The assessment guide's test for activity 4 asks whether the claimant "could reasonably use an aid such as a grab rail to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower", not whether one has already been fitted.
Gripping is named directly in the dressing activity, where the guide states that dressing and undressing "may involve stretching, reaching, bending, gripping and other such movements". Fastenings, buttons and zips are the everyday form of that test. Where an adapted garment or a dressing aid is needed, descriptor 6b applies at 2 points.
The listing an assessor cannot make for you is the one worth preparing. Write down every item used in a normal day, what it is used for, and whether the task is possible without it. Items acquired years ago and now used automatically are the ones most often left off the form, and each of them may be pointing at a descriptor.
Evidence That Supports an Arthritis Claim
An occupational therapy assessment is worth more than a further confirmation of the diagnosis. It names the aids and the tasks they are needed for, which is what the descriptors ask about. Seven of the ten daily living activities contain a 2-point descriptor that scores where an aid or appliance is reasonably required, and four of those reach the 8-point standard rate.
- A rheumatology clinic letter confirming the type of arthritis and the joints affected
- Imaging or blood test results referenced in a clinic letter
- A repeat prescription list covering analgesia, anti-inflammatories or disease-modifying drugs
- An occupational therapy assessment listing the aids and adaptations recommended or supplied
- A physiotherapy referral or discharge letter, with the exercise regime and its weekly hours
- A written statement from a person who assists with dressing, washing or preparing food
Send what you already have rather than waiting for a new report. Evidence describing what you can do on an ordinary day answers the descriptors; the assessment weighs it against the reliability criteria.
Work Out the Full Picture
The tool above is pre-filtered; the assessment is not. All 12 activities are scored — 10 for daily living and 2 for mobility, set out in Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013 — and points from the two components never combine.
Arthritis affecting several joints commonly reaches more than the seven activities above. Two tools finish the picture:
- Score every activity in the PIP points calculator, which uses the same verbatim descriptors.
- Compare the pre-filtered tools on the all condition calculators page.
Where an award is already in place and was backdated, the work out your pip back pay tool prices the arrears.
Related guidance: check pip for arthritis.