PIP for Gout: Points, Rates and How to Qualify

The Short Answer

Yes, you can get PIP for gout if its effects score at least 8 points in a component on more than half of the days; the diagnosis alone does not decide it. The activities most often engaged are moving around, dressing and undressing, washing and bathing, and preparing food. Attacks count under regulation 7, which looks at the days on which each descriptor applies over the required period. Twelve points in a component gives the enhanced rate.

Can You Get PIP for Gout?

Yes, PIP can be awarded for gout when its effects on the 12 assessed activities score at least 8 points in a component on more than half of the days of the required period. Gout is not named in the PIP Regulations 2013, and the full list of conditions shows that the regulations name no diagnosis. Schedule 1 scores tasks, not conditions.

Two tests decide many gout claims. The first is the duration test: GOV.UK sets the condition that you expect the difficulties to last for at least 12 months from when they started. Regulation 12 applies it as a look back over the 3 months before the prescribed date and a look forward over the 9 months after it.

The second is the 50% rule, set out below. A condition with attacks and quieter days is scored on how often each descriptor applies, not on the worst day.

Which PIP Activities Can Gout Affect?

Four activities use wording that turns on tasks gout can limit in the feet and hands: moving around, dressing and undressing, washing and bathing, and preparing food. Schedule 1 defines "dress and undress" to include put on and take off socks and shoes, and it defines "cook" as heat food at or above waist height.

Last checked: 30 September 2026

The moving around distance bands measure how far a person can stand and then move. Each descriptor counts only where the distance can be covered safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time (regulation 4(2A)). The PIP Assessment Guide lists pain and fatigue among the symptoms considered when deciding whether a task can be repeated.

How Do Gout Attacks Count Under the 50% Rule?

A gout attack counts in proportion to the days it covers, because regulation 7 scores the descriptor that applies on over 50% of the days of the required period. The PIP Assessment Guide bases the choice on a 12-month period and, where there is variability, on the need on the majority of days. The PIP 50% Rule explains the regulation in full.

The examples below are arithmetic on a 365-day year. They are illustrations of the rule, not forecasts.

• Attacks only. Six attacks of 8 days each cover 48 days, or 13% of the year. If the person walks more than 200 metres on all the other days, descriptor a of moving around (0 points) applies on over 50% of the days, so it is the descriptor scored.
• Symptoms between attacks. Descriptor b applies on 110 days, c on 50 days and e on 30 days, a total of 190 days or 52%. No single descriptor passes 50%, so regulation 7(1)(c) applies. It gives the descriptor satisfied for the greater proportion of days. That is descriptor b, which scores 4 points.

Regulation 7(2) sets the test for a single day: a descriptor is satisfied on a day if it is likely that, had the person been assessed that day, they would have satisfied it.

How Many PIP Points Could You Score With Gout?

Gout has no fixed points total, because each component adds the highest descriptor that applies in each of its activities. The two components are scored separately.

Last checked: 30 September 2026

The table is an arithmetic example using Schedule 1 points. Gout is assessed on the same activities as joint conditions, and PIP for Arthritis covers those in more detail. To test your own combination, use the Arthritis PIP Calculator for joint-related activities, work out your walking ability points for moving around, or check your total across all twelve activities.

What Evidence Supports a Gout Claim?

Evidence that records how often each task is affected answers the 50% rule directly. Suitable evidence includes:

• A dated record of attacks, with the start and end of each attack and the tasks affected on each day
• The same record for the days between attacks, which shows whether a descriptor applies on ordinary days
• GP or rheumatology letters recording the diagnosis and the tasks it limits
• A statement from a person who helps with daily tasks or with getting about

Use the same dated record across at least a year where you can, because the test covers the required period. The guide to preparing evidence for a claim or appeal sets out what a decision maker reads.

How Much PIP Would You Get With Gout, and Is It Backdated?

PIP pays the same four weekly rates whatever the condition: £76.70 or £114.60 for daily living and £30.30 or £80.00 for mobility in 2026/27. Gout carries no amount of its own.

Last checked: 30 September 2026

These are the GOV.UK amounts for 2026/27, and the weekly PIP rate for each component is set out on the rates page. An award runs from the date of the claim, so the wait for a decision is paid as arrears. The calculator shows how backdated PIP is calculated for any award.