The Short Answer
Hearing Loss can qualify for PIP where it limits the assessed activities on more than half of the days over a 12-month period. The assessment separates devices from people, and communication support scores far more than an aid. Points come from the descriptors the condition engages, not from the diagnosis, and both components can reach either rate.
How Hearing Loss Affects the 12 Activities
The activities below are the ones whose published assessment guidance names the functions hearing loss is commonly reported to affect.
| Activity | What it assesses | Descriptors typically engaged | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily living 7 — Communicating verbally | communicating verbally, including where an aid or communication support is needed to express or understand speech | b, c, d | 2–8 |
| Daily living 9 — Engaging with other people face to face | engaging with other people face to face, where prompting or social support is needed | b, c | 2–4 |
| Daily living 4 — Washing and bathing | washing and bathing safely, where an alarm cannot be heard and a visual alternative is needed | b, f | 2–4 |
| Mobility 1 — Planning and following journeys | planning and following journeys, where announcements, traffic or instructions cannot be heard | b, d | 4–10 |
| Daily living 8 — Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words | reading and understanding written information, where written English is a second language after sign | c | 2 |
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 7: “For example, a deaf person who cannot communicate verbally and does not use sign language might need communication support to support them in another way even if they do not routinely have such help.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 9: “Social support means support from another person trained or experienced in assisting people to engage in social situations or someone directly experienced in supporting the claimant themselves (for example a family member or carer).”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 4: “A deaf or hearing impaired claimant, who is not able to hear a standard fire alarm while washing or bathing, may need a visual alarm to alert them to the risk of fire, in order to wash or bathe safely.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 11: “This activity is designed for limitations on mobility deriving from mental health, cognitive and sensory impairments, whereas activity 12 is generally designed for limitations from physical problems. Cognitive impairment includes orientation (understanding of where, when and who the person is), attention, concentration and memory.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 8: “If the claimant cannot read, this must be as a direct result of their health condition or impairment e.g. visual impairment, cognitive impairment, learning disability.”
The remaining activities are not closed; they are simply less often engaged. Where hearing loss coexists with another condition, the whole assessment is in play, and a claim described under one heading alone will leave those activities blank.
Points You Could Score
8 points in a component pays the standard rate; 12 points pays the enhanced rate. Regulations 5 and 6 of the PIP Regulations 2013 set both thresholds, and the two components are scored separately so their points never combine.
Needing an aid to speak or hear scores 2 points; needing communication support for complex verbal information scores 4, and for basic verbal information 8.
To score your own case activity by activity, use PIP for Hearing Loss, which is pre-filtered to the activities above.
Evidence and Assessment
Evidence that names an activity beats evidence that names the diagnosis. The diagnosis is rarely disputed; what the descriptors ask about is what happens when you attempt a task.
- An audiology report giving the audiogram and the loss in each ear in decibels
- A record of hearing aids, a cochlear implant or a bone-anchored device, with the fitting date
- A record of communication support used — a BSL interpreter, lipspeaker or speech-to-text reporter
- An assessment from a sensory services or social work team
- A record of safety adaptations supplied, such as a vibrating or visual fire alarm
- A written statement from a person who interprets or relays information for you, describing when and how often
An audiogram establishes the loss. What scores is a record of the communication support used — an interpreter, a lipspeaker or a speech-to-text reporter — and of safety adaptations such as a visual fire alarm.
At the appointment itself, the reliability criteria are what to keep in view: an activity counts as done only where it can be done safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. Those four elements come from regulation 4 of the PIP Regulations 2013, and each is a separate ground on which a task can fail. What the PIP assessment guide covers, and how to prepare, is set out on the assessment hub.
Rates and Back Pay for Hearing Loss Claims
The same rates as any award, and the same backdating rules.
| 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 |
Last checked: 6 August 2026
An award runs from the date of the claim, so the months spent waiting for a decision are paid as arrears rather than lost. Where a claim is refused and later won at reconsideration or tribunal, the award still reaches back to the original claim date.
Where Hearing Loss Sits Among Other Conditions
No condition ranks above another, because the regulations name none of them. Hearing Loss is assessed on the same 12 activities as every other condition, and the list of conditions that can qualify for PIP exists to show how each maps onto those activities rather than to rank them.