The Short Answer
The standard rate needs at least 8 points in the component concerned, and applies up to 11. It pays £76.70 a week for daily living and £30.30 for mobility, and £107.00 where both components reach it. Eight points is a hard edge: seven points pays nothing at all in that component. The points must be in the same component, because daily living and mobility totals are never combined.
What the Standard Rate Pays
Eight to eleven points in a component, and the rate follows. The table shows the standard rate in each component and the combinations they produce.
| Award | Weekly | Every 4 weeks | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard daily living only | £76.70 | £306.80 | £3,988.40 |
| Standard mobility only | £30.30 | £121.20 | £1,575.60 |
| Standard daily living + standard mobility | £107.00 | £428.00 | £5,564.00 |
| Standard daily living + enhanced mobility | £156.70 | £626.80 | £8,148.40 |
Last checked: 6 August 2026
The pip rates 2026 hub sets out both components and both rates together, including how each one changes in April.
The Eight-Point Edge
Seven points pays nothing and eight pays the full standard rate. That is the sharpest boundary in the assessment, and it is decided by arithmetic rather than by degree of difficulty.
For daily living the step is worth £3,988.40 a year; for mobility it is worth £1,575.60. In both cases a single 2-point descriptor can be the difference, which is why aid descriptors are worth listing carefully even when they feel too small to mention.
What Reaches 8 Points
Four 2-point descriptors, or two 4-point ones, or one 8-point one. All three routes are equally valid.
| Route | Example |
|---|---|
| One 8-point descriptor | Cannot engage with other people at all |
| 4 + 4 | Social support to engage, plus prompting to take nutrition |
| 4 + 2 + 2 | Supervision to prepare a meal, an aid to wash, an aid to dress |
| 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 | Aids for preparing food, washing, dressing and toilet needs |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The bottom row is the pattern that carries most physical-condition claims. Each descriptor on its own sounds too minor to matter, and together they reach the threshold.
Moving From Standard to Enhanced
Four more points changes the rate. For daily living, moving from 8 to 12 points is worth £37.90 a week, or £1,970.80 a year. For mobility, moving from 8 to 12 is worth £49.70 a week, or £2,584.40 a year, and also opens the Motability Scheme.
Where a decision lands at 8 or 9 points, the descriptors immediately above the ones chosen are worth reading closely. A decision at 10 or 11 points is two points from a rate change, and the points section of the decision letter shows exactly which activities the decision maker scored low.
The Same Rules Apply at Both Rates
The frequency and reliability tests do not soften at the standard rate. A descriptor applies where the difficulty arises on more than half of the days over a 12-month period, and where the activity cannot be repeated "within a reasonable period of time and to the same standard".
Nothing in the regulations treats an 8-point claim as a lesser claim. The threshold is a line in the arithmetic, and both sides of it are decided by the same evidence rules.
Check Your Own Score
Eight points is close enough to reach by accident and close enough to miss the same way. Work out your pip score across all twelve activities and see which component clears which threshold.