Answers · UK 2025/26
What are the daily living and mobility components of PIP?
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has two separate components -- daily living and mobility -- each paid at a standard or enhanced rate depending on how much your condition affects you. You can qualify for one or both components, assessed independently, and PIP is not means-tested or affected by your income or savings.
Full answer
PIP replaced Disability Living Allowance for working-age adults and is built around two independent components, meaning your entitlement to one does not depend on your entitlement to the other. **Daily living component** This covers help needed with everyday tasks such as preparing food, washing and dressing, managing medication, communicating, and engaging with other people. It is paid at either the standard or enhanced rate, based on a points-based assessment of how your condition affects these activities. **Mobility component** This covers difficulty getting around, covering both 'planning and following journeys' and 'moving around' physically. It is also paid at standard or enhanced rate, assessed separately from daily living, meaning someone can, for example, qualify for enhanced mobility but only standard (or no) daily living, or vice versa. **How the assessment works** DWP (or an assessment provider) scores each relevant activity based on descriptors reflecting the level of difficulty and whether aids, prostheses, or help from another person are needed, with total points across the daily living activities determining that component's rate, and total points across the mobility activities determining the mobility rate, independently of each other. **Not means-tested** Unlike many benefits, PIP is not affected by income, savings, or (in most cases) whether you are working, since it is intended to cover the extra costs of a long-term health condition or disability, not to replace lost earnings. **Practical tip** When completing the PIP claim form, describe your WORST typical day and how a condition affects you consistently and reliably (not just on your best days), covering both components separately and in detail, since vague or overly brief answers are a common reason for lower awards than someone's actual needs would justify.
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This answer is informational only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Figures are for the 2025/26 UK tax year. See our methodology and sources.