People with COPD can qualify for PIP — and the breathlessness and fatigue associated with the condition can score across multiple daily living and mobility descriptors. The assessment does not look at your diagnosis, but at how COPD affects your daily life. Here is what to expect in 2026/27.
For how much each component pays this year, see PIP rates.
Standard rate requires 8 points in each component; enhanced rate requires 12 points.
How COPD Maps to PIP Descriptors
Daily Living Activities
| Activity | How COPD may affect it | Max points |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing food | Breathlessness when standing at a cooker, fatigue when chopping | 8 |
| Eating and drinking | Usually not affected by COPD alone | 10 |
| Managing therapy / medication | Inhalers, nebulisers, oxygen therapy require assistance or reminders | 8 |
| Washing and bathing | Breathlessness when bathing, showering, or drying | 8 |
| Dressing and undressing | Fatigue and breathlessness pulling on clothing | 8 |
| Communicating verbally | Breathlessness affecting speech in some severe cases | 12 |
Mobility Activities
Activity 2 — Moving around: This is often the highest-scoring activity for COPD. It measures how far you can walk reliably. You can only be treated as able to do an activity if you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time.
The points depend on the distance you can walk reliably (moving around descriptors). If breathlessness stops you within 20 metres you score 12 points, enough for the enhanced mobility rate on its own. Between 20 and 50 metres you score 8 points unaided (standard rate) or 10 with a walking aid.
Worked Example: Margaret, 62, Severe COPD
Worked examples on this page use 2026/27 rates.
Margaret has GOLD stage 3 COPD. She uses a nebuliser twice daily, needs to pause after 15 metres of walking, and requires help with bathing and dressing due to breathlessness.
Daily living scores:
- Washing and bathing: 2 points (needs supervision)
- Dressing and undressing: 2 points (needs prompting/assistance)
- Managing therapy: 2 points (needs reminders for nebuliser)
- Preparing food: 2 points (needs a perching stool because she is breathless standing at the cooker)
- Total: 8 points → Standard daily living: £76.70/week
Mobility scores:
- Moving around: 12 points (cannot walk more than 20 metres)
- Total: 12 points → Enhanced mobility: £80.00/week
Margaret’s total PIP: £156.70/week = £8,148/year
Margaret can also apply for the Motability scheme and a vehicle tax exemption with her enhanced mobility rate.
Key Evidence for COPD Claims
- Spirometry results — FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio showing severity
- GOLD stage classification (1–4) from your respiratory consultant
- MRC Dyspnoea Scale score: a clinical measure of how breathlessness limits walking
- Oxygen therapy prescription if applicable
- Frequency of exacerbations and hospital admissions over the last 2 years
- Pulmonary rehabilitation records — attendance and outcomes
Completing the PIP2 Form for COPD
Key points when completing your PIP2:
- Describe how far you can walk before stopping, not your maximum possible effort on a good day
- Include the time activities take compared to someone without COPD
- Note whether symptoms are variable — COPD often fluctuates with weather, infections, and exacerbations
- Describe your worst days: exacerbations, infections, bad weather days
If Your Claim is Refused
Request a Mandatory Reconsideration within one month. If refused again, appeal to tribunal. Your MRC Dyspnoea Scale score is a recognised clinical measure of breathlessness; if your consultant has recorded it, include it as evidence of how far you can walk.
See our what happens if PIP is stopped guide, Attendance Allowance guide for older people, and benefits for disabled workers.