The Short Answer
You can get PIP with Raynaud's if its effects score at least 8 points in a component on more than half of the days over 12 months; the diagnosis alone does not decide it. The days are counted across the whole required period, which looks 3 months back and 9 months forward, so a condition that varies by season is scored on the year, not on the day of the assessment. Eight points pays the standard rate and 12 points pays the enhanced rate.
Can You Get PIP for Raynaud's?
Yes, PIP can be awarded for Raynaud's when its effects on the assessed activities score at least 8 points in the daily living or mobility component. The regulations list no qualifying conditions, so the list of conditions with guides shows how each maps onto the same 12 descriptors.
GOV.UK states the frequency test as: "you expect to have difficulty more than half of the days over a 12-month period". Its eligibility test also requires that you expect the difficulties to last at least 12 months from when they started. Both were checked on 30 September 2026.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Points for the standard rate | 8 in a component | PIP Regulations 2013, regs 5(3) and 6(3) |
| Points for the enhanced rate | 12 in a component | PIP Regulations 2013, regs 5(3) and 6(3) |
| How often a descriptor must apply | Over 50% of the days of the required period | PIP Regulations 2013, reg 7(1) |
| The required period | 3 months before and 9 months after the assessment date | PIP Regulations 2013, reg 7(3) |
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Which PIP Activities Can Raynaud's Affect?
Where the hands limit a task, the activities that can score are preparing food, taking nutrition, washing and bathing, and dressing and undressing. The table quotes the Schedule 1 descriptors for hand tasks.
| Activity | Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living 1: Preparing food | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal. | 2 |
| Daily living 1: Preparing food | e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal. | 4 |
| Daily living 2: Taking nutrition | b. Needs – (i) to use an aid or appliance to be able to take nutrition; or (ii) supervision to be able to take nutrition; or (iii) assistance to be able to cut up food. | 2 |
| Daily living 4: Washing and bathing | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe. | 2 |
| Daily living 6: Dressing and undressing | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress. | 2 |
| Daily living 6: Dressing and undressing | e. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body. | 4 |
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The guide's examples of aids include button hooks and sock aids for dressing, and the Dressing and Undressing activity page sets out the rest. For cooking, it says peeling and chopping fresh ingredients belong to the food preparation descriptors, while cutting food that is ready to eat belongs to taking nutrition. It also states that difficulty with raw vegetables "may" mean difficulty cutting cooked food, "but this is not inevitable". The guide expects consistency across activities that need similar dexterity.
How Does the 50% Rule Treat Symptoms That Are Worse in Winter?
A descriptor scores when it is satisfied on over 50% of the days of the required period, so days in different seasons are added together across 12 months. Regulation 7(3) sets that period as 3 months before and 9 months after the assessment date. The guide adds that descriptor choice "should be based on consideration of a 12 month period", and the page on how the days are counted covers this in full.
An assessment made in summer therefore still looks ahead to the following winter. These day counts are invented for arithmetic only.
- Descriptor b for preparing food applies on 214 of the 365 days. That is 58.6%, over 50%, so it applies for the whole period and scores 2 points.
- If it applied on 150 days, that is 41.1%. No scoring descriptor would apply on over 50% of the days, and the activity would score 0.
- If descriptor b applied on 100 days and descriptor e on 90 days, neither passes 50% alone. Together they cover 190 days, or 52.1%.
- Regulation 7(1)(c) then scores the one satisfied on the greater proportion of days, which is b, at 2 points.
Days in the months when the descriptor does not apply are counted as well. They are the days that count against it.
Does Raynaud's With Another Condition Change the Score?
Yes, because the guide requires the impact of every condition to be counted across the activities. It states that "the impact of all impairment types must be taken into account across the activities". Points add within each component. The guides to PIP for Lupus and PIP for Rheumatoid Arthritis show how those conditions map to the same descriptors.
How Many PIP Points Could You Score With Raynaud's?
The score is one descriptor per activity, added within the daily living component, and 8 points reaches the standard rate. This example is illustrative arithmetic, not a forecast of any decision.
| Descriptors that apply on over 50% of days | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing food b (2), taking nutrition b (2), washing and bathing b (2), dressing and undressing b (2) | 8 | Standard daily living rate |
| Preparing food e (4), taking nutrition b (2), washing and bathing b (2), dressing and undressing b (2) | 10 | Standard daily living rate, 2 points short of enhanced |
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The enhanced rate needs 12 points in the component. To test your own answers, score each activity against the descriptors in the points calculator.
What Evidence Supports a Raynaud's Claim?
Evidence that records which tasks are affected and on which days is what the 50% rule counts. Five kinds of evidence are useful.
- A letter from your rheumatology team or GP that describes the effect on hand tasks, not only the diagnosis
- A dated record across the year of the tasks affected and the days they were affected, including the days they were not
- A list of the aids you use for cooking, eating and dressing, and when you started using each
- A written statement from a person who helps, describing when and why
- An occupational therapy assessment of your home
A record kept through only one season shows only part of the required period. How decision makers read such records is set out in how evidence is weighed in appeals.
How Much PIP Would You Get With Raynaud's, and Is It Backdated?
PIP pays the same four weekly rates for every condition: £76.70 or £114.60 for daily living and £30.30 or £80.00 for mobility in 2026/27. No amount depends on the diagnosis. The weekly rates for 2026/27 are shown with earlier years.
| Award | Weekly | Every 4 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living standard | £76.70 | £306.80 |
| Daily living enhanced | £114.60 | £458.40 |
| Mobility standard | £30.30 | £121.20 |
| Mobility enhanced | £80.00 | £320.00 |
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If an award is made, entitlement starts from the date of the claim, or from the date the three-month qualifying period was satisfied for new claims, according to DWP statistics wording checked on 30 September 2026. Months spent waiting for a decision are therefore paid as arrears, and you can estimate arrears on a Raynaud's award in the back pay calculator.