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PIP by condition · Stroke
PIP for stroke: can you get it, and how much?
Stroke is the ninth most common main condition on PIP, and six in ten new claims succeed. Here is what the DWP looks for, activity by activity, and how to describe weakness, speech, memory and fatigue in the way the descriptors score them.
- People getting PIP93,443
- Average award a week£148.45
- Enhanced daily living61%
- Enhanced mobility63%
Yes. You can get PIP for stroke if its effects have lasted three months and are likely to last at least nine more. 93,443 people get PIP with stroke as their main condition, the 9th largest group, and 59.5% of new claims were awarded in the year to July 2026, well above the 44.8% average for all conditions.
Stroke awards are often at the higher rates: 61% include enhanced daily living and 63% enhanced mobility, against 34% and 36% for all conditions, and the average award is £148.45 a week. The claims that score highest describe the hidden effects too: speech, memory, vision and fatigue, not only the weak arm or leg.
awarded
The figures
Stroke and PIP in numbers.
Every figure here comes from the DWP’s own data, released each quarter. Pick another condition to compare.
| People getting PIP | 93,443 | July 2026 |
| Average award a week | £148.45 | |
| Awards with enhanced daily living | 61% | |
| Awards with enhanced mobility | 63% | |
| Reconsiderations that changed the award | 27.6% |
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore, PIP cases with entitlement (July 2026) and clearances (August 2025 to July 2026). A pattern across claimants, not your chance. Why figures differ: we count awards as a share of all decisions made after an assessment in the last 12 months.
Where claims go wrong
Why stroke claims are refused.
About four in ten new stroke claims are refused, usually because the form describes the physical recovery and leaves out what the stroke did to speech, thinking, vision and stamina. These four patterns lose the most points.
“Has made a good recovery”
A hospital discharge letter or a physio note that says you are doing well is read as you managing. Recovery is measured against how you were in hospital, not against what PIP asks. Say what you still cannot do, or cannot do safely, on most days now.
The hidden effects left out
Forgetting the hob, losing your place halfway through dressing, not following a conversation or getting lost on a route you used to know all score. They are easy to miss because nobody can see them. Write them down activity by activity.
Fatigue not counted
Post-stroke fatigue means a task you can do at 10am may be beyond you by 2pm. If finishing one activity leaves you unable to do the next, the first one is not done in a reasonable time or repeatedly. Say how long each task takes and what it costs you afterwards.
Someone else’s help taken for granted
If a partner finishes your sentences, checks the cooker or walks beside you outside, that is assistance, supervision or communication support. Families often stop noticing it. Ask them what they do for you in a normal week and put it on the form.
If your decision letter reads like one of these, the Should I challenge my PIP decision? checker shows what the points were worth and your deadline.
The rule that decides stroke claims
The reliability test: safely, repeatedly, in a reasonable time.
Under regulation 4(2A) of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, you only count as able to do an activity if you can do it in all four of these ways, on the majority of days. For stroke this is often the whole case: a task you can finish once, slowly, then need the rest of the day to recover from, is not a task you can do repeatedly.
Bad days count in the same way. If there are days when fatigue, a headache or low mood means you cannot get dressed or leave the house, count them: “I stayed in bed until the afternoon on 12 days in June” is evidence; “I get very tired” is not.
From symptoms to points
Which activities each symptom scores on.
The DWP does not score the stroke, or weakness, aphasia or fatigue as such. It scores the twelve activities. This is where each effect lands.
| Symptom | The activities it scores on | What to describe |
|---|---|---|
| Weakness or paralysis down one side | Preparing food, washing and bathing, dressing, moving around | What you cannot do one handed, whether you can stand at the hob or step into the bath, and the falls or near falls when your leg gives way. |
| Speech and language problems (aphasia, dysarthria) | Communicating verbally, reading, engaging with other people | Whether strangers understand you, whether you follow what is said to you, and who speaks for you at the GP or on the phone. |
| Memory, concentration and planning | Preparing food, managing medication, budgeting, planning journeys | Burnt pans and taps left running, missed or doubled tablets, unpaid bills, and getting lost or confused on a route you used to know. |
| Vision loss or neglect of one side | Planning and following journeys, reading, moving around | Bumping into things on one side, missing kerbs and traffic, and not reading signs, letters or timetables without help. |
| Post-stroke fatigue and low mood | Everything, on the days it is worst | How many hours a day you can stay active, how long you need to rest after a task, and the days you cannot start at all. |
Activity by activity
Does this apply to you?
These are the six activities where stroke most often scores, with every descriptor and its points. Pick the one that fits you on most days in each activity and see roughly where you stand. Eight points in a component is the standard rate; twelve is enhanced.
Preparing foodActivity 1 · up to 8 pts
Chopping, peeling and lifting a pan with one good hand, standing at the hob without losing your balance, and whether you forget the cooker is on or lose track of the steps.
Washing and bathingActivity 4 · up to 8 pts
Getting in and out of the bath or shower safely with a weak leg, washing your good arm and your back, and the seat, rail or person you need to do it.
Dressing and undressingActivity 6 · up to 8 pts
Buttons, zips, bras and laces with one hand, getting a weak arm into a sleeve, and whether you sit down or need someone to help because you lose your balance.
Communicating verballyActivity 7 · up to 12 pts
Whether you can find the words you need and be understood by someone who does not know you, and whether you understand what is said to you, or need a person who knows you to help.
Planning and following journeysActivity 11 · up to 12 pts
Whether you can work out a route, follow it when it is unfamiliar or changes, and cope with signs and traffic when vision or memory has been affected, or need someone with you.
Moving aroundActivity 12 · up to 12 pts
How far you can walk reliably: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. Not once, on a good day, with a rest and a stick afterwards.
The DWP counts the highest descriptor that applies in each activity. The six activities here are a guide for stroke; the calculator covers all twelve, including managing medication, reading, engaging with people face to face and budgeting, where memory, vision and low mood after a stroke can also score.
What to write
Weak and strong descriptions, side by side.
The DWP scores what you write against the descriptors. The same difficulty, described two ways, gets two different results.
“Since my stroke I find getting dressed difficult.”
“My right arm has not worked properly since my stroke, so I cannot do up buttons, zips or my bra. My wife puts my shirt on and does it up every morning, and helps me get my right arm into my coat. I put my trousers on sitting on the bed with a dressing stick, because I fell over trying to stand on one leg in February. Getting dressed takes me about 35 minutes and I have to lie down afterwards.”
“My speech is not as good as it was.”
“I know what I want to say but most of the time the words come out wrong or not at all. People who do not know me cannot understand me, and if someone talks quickly I lose what they are saying after a sentence or two. My daughter comes to every appointment and explains things to me again in short sentences. She makes my phone calls, because I cannot follow a call with the bank or the surgery.”
More worked examples, for six activities: PIP appeal letter examples. If you would rather it was written for you, every answer on the PIP2 form, in this language, for your conditions, is our PIP2 Form Answers service.
Evidence
The evidence that helps a stroke claim.
A scan shows where the stroke happened, but not what it stops you doing; two people with the same scan can manage very differently. These six carry the most weight, in this order.
The assessment
What to expect at a stroke assessment.
Most assessments are by phone or video and last 45 to 90 minutes. The assessor is a health professional, not someone who knows your case, and they write a report that the DWP decision maker scores. Three things make the difference for stroke.
Have someone with you
If speech, hearing or memory has been affected, ask for a family member or friend to join the call. They can help you understand the questions and add what you forget. Ask the DWP for any adjustment you need, such as a face to face assessment or extra time, before the day.
Say what fatigue costs you
An hour on a call can leave you exhausted, and the assessor will not see that. Tell them how you will be afterwards, how long you need to rest, and what you would normally have to cancel that day.
Answer for most days, not the best one
“Can you make a meal?” invites a yes if you managed once. Say how often it goes wrong, what you forget, what you cannot do one handed and who steps in when it does.
Our PIP assessment checklist walks through the week before, the day itself and the week after. Ask for a copy of the assessor’s report (the PA4) as soon as you get your decision; it is where most reconsiderations are won.
The official rules on claiming, assessments and payments are on GOV.UK’s PIP pages, and free independent advice is on Citizens Advice’s PIP pages.
Refused or underpaid?
What happens next, and what it is worth.
You have one month from the date on the decision letter to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. In the last year 27.6% of stroke reconsiderations changed the award, and if the reconsideration fails, 67% of PIP appeals decided at a tribunal hearing go the claimant’s way (Ministry of Justice, April to June 2026). An award is backdated to the date of your claim, so a standard daily living award overturned after nine months is worth around £3,000 on the day it is granted, before the weekly payments start.
A reconsideration letter that works goes through the decision letter and the assessor’s report point by point, in the DWP’s own language, and attaches the evidence the report ignored. Ours is written by the team and reviewed by Neil, a former DWP decision maker, within 48 hours, for a flat £49. We never take a percentage of your backpay. Use the deadline calculator first so you know your date, and the backpay calculator to see what winning is worth.
Other benefits
Other benefits for stroke.
PIP is not the only benefit a stroke claim can lead to, and the rules change if you are over State Pension age or in Scotland.
Keeping up
What changed in 2026.
Kept current by our quarterly data refresh and weekly checks of GOV.UK. Last reviewed .
Related conditions
Conditions that often go with stroke.
List every condition on your form; each one can score on different activities. Guides for these are being added; until then each link opens the condition’s own figures.
Questions
Stroke and PIP: your questions.
Yes. 93,443 people get PIP with stroke as their main condition, and 59.5% of new claims were awarded in the year to July 2026, against 44.8% for all conditions.
PIP is decided on how the stroke affects your daily life, not on the stroke itself. What counts is what you can do reliably now: cooking, washing, dressing, talking to people, finding your way and walking.
£148.45 a week on average, above the £118.77 average for all conditions, because most stroke awards are at the enhanced rates (61% enhanced daily living and 63% enhanced mobility). The 2026/27 rates are £76.70 or £114.60 a week for daily living and £30.30 or £80.00 for mobility.
You can start a claim at any time, but you can only be paid once your needs have lasted three months and are likely to last at least nine more. Many people claim around three months after the stroke, once it is clearer what has not come back.
PIP is paid from the date you start the claim, not from the date of the stroke, so do not wait for your recovery to finish before you call.
No. There is no time limit. If the effects are still there, you can claim now, and long lasting effects make the nine month test easy to meet. Describe how you are today, not how you were in hospital.
Only if the form lets it. PIP looks at what you can do reliably now, safely, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. Being able to walk again or dress yourself slowly is not the same as doing it reliably, so describe how long tasks take, what goes wrong and what fatigue costs you.
A TIA on its own rarely qualifies, because its symptoms usually clear within a day. If you have lasting effects afterwards, such as memory problems, anxiety about going out or another condition found during the tests, those can count. The DWP scores the effects, not the name of the event.
Yes. Communicating verbally scores up to 12 points. Needing someone who knows you to help you express or understand basic information is 8 points on its own, enough for the standard daily living rate. Ask for someone to join your assessment and to help you fill in the form.
59.5% of new stroke claims decided after an assessment were awarded in the year to July 2026. The DWP records three labels: stroke (cerebrovascular accident) 60.5% of 9,566 decisions, cognitive disorder due to stroke 59.9% of 292, and other cerebrovascular disease 49.1% of 933.
It is a pattern across claimants, not your chance. Your chance depends on how your form describes your days.
Yes. A descriptor only counts as done if you can do it repeatedly and in a reasonable time. If washing leaves you needing to lie down and unable to dress, say so: the fatigue is why you cannot do the activity reliably.
Count the hours you are active each day and the rest you need after each task, and put the numbers on the form.
Yes. PIP is for anyone from 16 to State Pension age, and age makes no difference to the points. Over State Pension age you claim Attendance Allowance instead, unless you already get PIP.
Refused, underpaid, or starting your claim?
Upload your decision letter for a free case review by the team, with Neil’s eye over it. If you go ahead, your letter is written for you, for a flat £49. We never take a percentage. You keep 100% of your backpay.
PIPAppeal is a letter-drafting service, not a law firm. It isn’t regulated by a legal body and doesn’t represent claimants at hearings. The DWP decides your claim and the tribunal decides your appeal.
Sources: Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, Schedule 1 and regulation 4(2A) · DWP Stat-Xplore, PIP statistics to July 2026 · Ministry of Justice, Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, April to June 2026 · NICE guideline NG236 on stroke rehabilitation in adults · GOV.UK, PIP rates 2026/27.
Last reviewed