The Short Answer
You can get PIP with kidney disease if its effects, including help needed with home dialysis, score at least 8 points in a component on more than half of the days; the diagnosis alone does not decide it. Managing therapy counts only treatment given at home, and its points depend on the weekly hours of help you need, from 2 points up to 3.5 hours to 8 points above 14. Eight points pays the standard rate and 12 points pays the enhanced rate.
Can You Get PIP for Kidney Disease?
Yes, PIP can be awarded for kidney disease 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, and how PIP treats each condition is by the same 12 descriptors.
GOV.UK sets out the eligibility test, checked on 30 September 2026. You are 16 or over, you have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability, you have difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around, and you expect the difficulties to last at least 12 months from when they started.
| 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) |
| Where managing therapy applies | Treatment delivered at home only | PIP assessment guide, Part 2 |
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Does Dialysis Count for PIP Points?
Home dialysis can score under managing therapy, but only for the time you need supervision, prompting or assistance to manage it, and only when it is delivered at home. The assessment guide gives home dialysis as one of its examples of therapy, alongside physiotherapy and some special diets.
The home-only boundary is stated exactly: "This activity only applies to medication or therapy delivered in the home environment (where the claimant lives (and may include care homes))." Dialysis at a hospital or unit is outside the activity. PIP Points for Managing Treatments sets out the rest of the wording.
These are the Schedule 1 descriptors for managing therapy, with the time bands in hours a week.
| Activity | Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Daily living 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | a. Either – (i) does not receive medication or therapy or need to monitor a health condition; or (ii) can manage medication or therapy or monitor a health condition unaided. | 0 |
| Daily living 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | c. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes no more than 3.5 hours a week. | 2 |
| Daily living 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | d. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 3.5 but no more than 7 hours a week. | 4 |
| Daily living 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | e. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 7 but no more than 14 hours a week. | 6 |
| Daily living 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | f. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes more than 14 hours a week. | 8 |
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The guide states that descriptors c to f "apply to the duration of the supervision, prompting or assistance and not the duration of the therapy". Therapy managed entirely unaided falls under descriptor a and scores 0, however long it takes. The guide's own worked example uses home dialysis.
- A claimant needs assistance for 3 hours to undergo home dialysis on Monday and Friday every week.
- That is 6 hours of assistance a week, which is more than 3.5 but no more than 7.
- Descriptor d applies, which scores 4 points.
- The guide confirms it applies although therapy is not received on most days, because it "accurately describes the level of support needed on the majority of weeks in the required period".
Which Other PIP Activities Can Kidney Disease Affect?
Preparing food, washing and bathing, and moving around can also score wherever an effect on the task means an aid, help or extra time is needed. The table quotes the Schedule 1 descriptors.
| 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 4: Washing and bathing | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe. | 2 |
| Daily living 4: Washing and bathing | d. Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist. | 2 |
| Mobility 2: Moving around | b. Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided | 4 |
| Mobility 2: Moving around | c. Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. | 8 |
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The guide requires the reliability criteria to be applied to each activity, including whether it can be done repeatedly and in a reasonable time period, which it defines as "no more than twice as long as the maximum period that a non-disabled person would normally take". It states that "symptoms such as pain, fatigue and breathlessness should be considered when determining whether an activity can be carried out repeatedly". The moving around distances are judged on ordinary outdoor surfaces, including kerbs.
How Many PIP Points Could You Score With Kidney Disease?
The score is one descriptor per activity, added within each component, so help with home dialysis adds to points from other daily living activities. These examples are illustrative arithmetic, not a forecast of any decision.
| Example | Descriptors that apply | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Managing therapy d (4) | 4 | Below 8, no daily living award |
| B | Managing therapy d (4), preparing food b (2), washing and bathing b (2) | 8 | Standard daily living rate |
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Managing therapy is scored in the same way for any condition with a treatment given at home, and the guides on how diabetes is scored and PIP for Heart Conditions show other conditions that reach it. To score your own answers, work out your daily living points, or see your total across daily living and mobility.
What Evidence Supports a Kidney Disease Claim?
Evidence that records the help you need with each home treatment session is what the therapy descriptors score, because the hours that count are the hours of help. Six kinds of evidence are useful.
- A letter from your renal team confirming the home treatment you carry out and how often
- Your treatment schedule, with the length of each session
- A record of who helps at each session, what they do and for how long, since those hours set the band
- A dated record of other tasks affected and the days they were affected, which is what the 50% rule counts
- A list of aids you use for cooking or washing
- A written statement from the person who helps, describing when and why
Record typical weeks accurately, since the guide tests whether a descriptor describes "the majority of weeks in the required period". The wider guidance is in preparing evidence for a claim or appeal.
How Much PIP Would You Get With Kidney Disease, 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 or on the treatment. The rates for each component 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 work out arrears on a kidney disease award in the back pay calculator.