The Short Answer
Migraine can qualify for PIP where it limits the assessed activities on more than half of the days over a 12-month period. Chronic migraine is scored across a 12-month period, so attack days and recovery days are counted together. Points come from the descriptors the condition engages, not from the diagnosis, and both components can reach either rate.
How Migraine Affects the 12 Activities
The activities below are the ones whose published assessment guidance names the functions migraine is commonly reported to affect.
| Activity | What it assesses | Descriptors typically engaged | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobility 1 — Planning and following journeys | planning and following journeys, including limitations deriving from cognitive and sensory impairment | b, c, d | 4–10 |
| Daily living 8 — Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words | reading and understanding written information, where the limitation arises from visual or cognitive impairment | b, c, d | 2–4 |
| Daily living 1 — Preparing food | preparing and cooking a simple meal, including where supervision is needed for safety | d, e, f | 2–8 |
| Daily living 3 — Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | managing medication and monitoring a health condition at home | b, c, d | 1–4 |
| Daily living 2 — Taking nutrition | taking nutrition, where an underlying condition affects the ability to eat | b, d | 2–4 |
| Daily living 4 — Washing and bathing | washing and bathing, including where supervision or prompting is needed | c | 2 |
| Mobility 2 — Moving around | standing and then moving, judged without severe discomfort such as pain | b, c | 4–8 |
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 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.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 1: “If an individual cannot cook at all because they have never needed to learn, consider their ability to carry out activities at or above waist height and their cognitive ability to use a stove or microwave if shown how.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 3: “Examples of therapy include physiotherapy, home dialysis and special diets where both attention to the nature and timing of food is integral in the management of the diet.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 2: “The frequency of taking nutrition should only be considered if the claimant has an underlying condition which affects their ability to remember to eat, or their motivation to eat e.g. dementia or severe clinical depression or an eating disorder.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 4: “Consideration should be given to the claimant's functional restrictions to see if they: could reasonably use an aid such as a grab rail to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower (4B) or whether they require assistance (4E) to get in and out of an unadapted bath or shower.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 12: “This activity considers a claimant's physical ability to move around without severe discomfort, such as breathlessness, pain or fatigue.”
The remaining activities are not closed; they are simply less often engaged. Where migraine 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.
A migraine claim turns on how many days in a month are lost to an attack or its aftermath, because a descriptor applies where it applies on more than half of the days.
To score your own case activity by activity, use PIP for Migraines, 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.
- A neurology or headache clinic letter confirming chronic migraine
- A headache diary covering at least three months, showing attack days and recovery days
- A repeat prescription list covering triptans, preventers and any anti-emetic
- A record of Botox, CGRP or occipital nerve block treatment, including where it is given and how often
- A record of any A&E attendance or emergency treatment for status migrainosus
- A note of the activities that were not possible on attack days, kept alongside the headache diary
A headache diary kept to the standard a neurology clinic asks for — dates, duration, medication taken and days unable to function — is the evidence that answers the frequency test directly.
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 Migraine 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 Migraine Sits Among Other Conditions
No condition ranks above another, because the regulations name none of them. Migraine 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.