The Short Answer
You can get PIP with nerve damage if its effects on daily activities or moving around score at least 8 points in a component; the diagnosis alone does not decide it. Preparing food, taking nutrition, washing, dressing and moving around are the activities most often engaged, through the hands and feet. A task must be done safely, and a difficulty must apply on more than half of the days. The enhanced rate needs 12 points.
Can You Get PIP for Nerve Damage?
Yes, if the effects of nerve damage score at least 8 points in the daily living or mobility component of PIP. The list of conditions that can qualify on this site shows how conditions map to the 12 activities, but no condition qualifies by name. Peripheral neuropathy is assessed on the same terms as any other nerve damage.
PIP is decided by points in the 12 activities in Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013. The daily living component has 10 activities and the mobility component has 2. GOV.UK states the duration test as difficulty "more than half of the days over a 12-month period", with the difficulties expected to last at least 12 months from when they started.
PIP looks at what happens when a task is attempted. A person with reduced grip in the hands or reduced feeling in the feet is assessed on whether each task can be done, with or without an aid, help or supervision. The mobility component looks at how far they can walk.
Which PIP Activities Can Nerve Damage Affect?
Five activities can be engaged by nerve damage in the hands and feet: preparing food, taking nutrition, washing and bathing, dressing and undressing, and moving around. The table quotes each descriptor as Schedule 1 words it, with its points. The middle column describes the effect on the task, not a symptom or a treatment.
| Activity | Effect on the task | Descriptor (Schedule 1) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparing food | Aid needed to handle items safely | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal. | 2 |
| Preparing food | Supervision or help needed to avoid cuts or burns | e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal. | 4 |
| Taking nutrition | Aid needed, or help to cut up food | 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 |
| Washing and bathing | Aid needed to wash or bathe | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe. | 2 |
| Washing and bathing | Help needed to get in or out of a bath or shower | e. Needs assistance to be able to get in or out of a bath or shower. | 3 |
| Dressing and undressing | Aid needed for fastenings or footwear | b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress. | 2 |
| Dressing and undressing | Help needed with the upper body | e. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body. | 4 |
| Moving around | Walking distance limited | b. Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided | 4 |
| Moving around | Walking distance limited | c. Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. | 8 |
| Moving around | Walking distance limited, with an aid | d. Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. | 10 |
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Each activity scores its single highest applicable descriptor. The Preparing Food activity and Moving Around activity pages list every descriptor in those activities, including the higher-scoring ones not shown here. The assessment guide also separates raw food from cooked food: needing an aid to peel and chop vegetables does not automatically mean an aid is needed to cut cooked food.
How Does the Safely Test Apply to Loss of Feeling?
A task counts as done only if it can be done safely, and safely means in a manner unlikely to cause harm. Regulation 4(4) defines "safely" as "in a manner unlikely to cause harm to C or to another person, either during or after completion of the activity". Harm that follows the task counts as well as harm during it.
The assessment guide sets a comparison. It states that "the risk of harm occurring also has to be higher than that for a non-disabled person completing the same activity". Its example is that most people occasionally burn or scald themselves slightly while cooking. A decision maker asks whether the risk of a burn or cut is higher because of the condition.
The supervision descriptor covers a person who cannot cook safely without another person present. Schedule 1 defines supervision as "the continuous presence of another person for the purpose of ensuring C's safety". The PIP Reliability Criteria set out the other three conditions: an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time.
Do Aids Such as Grab Rails or Adapted Cutlery Score Points?
Yes, where the aid is needed to complete the activity, an aid descriptor applies and scores 2 points in these activities. The assessment guide defines aids and appliances as "devices which improve, provide or replace the claimant's impaired physical or mental function", and names grab rails among its examples. For taking nutrition it lists claimants "who need to use specially adapted cutlery".
Regulation 4(2) assesses ability either using the aids a person normally uses or as if they used an aid they could reasonably be expected to use. That means an aid that has not been bought can still be counted where it is reasonable to expect its use. Ordinary objects are treated differently: the guide says an object used in the way anyone would use it, such as a pan with a rubber-grip handle, is unlikely to be an aid. The page on Aids and Appliances explains how equipment scores across all 12 activities.
How Many PIP Points Could You Score With Nerve Damage?
8 points in a component pays the standard rate and 12 points pays the enhanced rate. Regulations 5 and 6 set both thresholds. Daily living and mobility are scored separately, and their points never combine.
The example below shows the arithmetic only. It is not a prediction of any award.
| Component | Activity | Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily living | Preparing food | b | 2 |
| Daily living | Taking nutrition | b | 2 |
| Daily living | Washing and bathing | e | 3 |
| Daily living | Dressing and undressing | b | 2 |
| Daily living total | 9 | ||
| Mobility | Moving around | c | 8 |
| Mobility total | 8 |
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A daily living total of 9 reaches the standard rate, and a mobility total of 8 reaches the standard mobility rate. Points from other conditions add within the same component. Where nerve damage has developed alongside another condition, the pages on PIP for Diabetes and PIP for Chronic Pain set out how those conditions are scored.
To score your own answers, work out your walking ability points for the mobility component, or add up your PIP points across all 12 activities with the descriptor picker.
What Evidence Supports a Nerve Damage Claim?
Evidence that records what you cannot do safely, and how far you can walk, carries more weight than evidence that names the diagnosis. The descriptors ask about tasks and distances, so the records should show both.
- A neurology or clinic letter recording the diagnosis and how long it has been present
- A record of falls, burns or cuts, with dates and the task being done
- An occupational therapy assessment listing aids and adaptations supplied or recommended
- A dated diary of tasks that could not be completed and of walking distances on ordinary days
- A statement from someone who helps or who is present during cooking or bathing
The guide to challenge evidence explains how decision makers weigh each type. Evidence must be honest and specific to the activities in the table above.
How Much PIP Would You Get With Nerve Damage, and Is It Backdated?
The rate depends on points, not on the condition, so nerve damage has no rate of its own. The four weekly rates on GOV.UK are below, and the standard and enhanced weekly rates are kept up to date on the rates page.
| Award | Weekly |
|---|---|
| Daily living standard | £76.70 |
| Daily living enhanced | £114.60 |
| Mobility standard | £30.30 |
| Mobility enhanced | £80.00 |
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A new claim is paid from the date of the claim, or from the date the 3-month qualifying period was satisfied, according to DWP statistics guidance. Where a decision is later changed on reconsideration or appeal, the award normally runs from the original entitlement date, so the months of waiting become arrears. To see what those months could add up to, calculate PIP arrears.