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PIP by condition · COPD
PIP for COPD: can you get it, and how much?
COPD, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is one of the most common main conditions on PIP, and about half of new claims succeed. Here is what the DWP looks for, activity by activity, and how to describe breathlessness, exacerbations and recovery time in the way the descriptors score them.
- People getting PIP92,337
- Average award a week£113.82
- Enhanced daily living19%
- Enhanced mobility42%
Yes. 92,337 people get PIP for COPD, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, as their main condition, the 9th largest group, and 49.2% of new claims were awarded in the year to July 2026, above the 44.8% average for all conditions.
Mobility is where COPD scores most: 42% of awards include the enhanced mobility rate, against 36% for all conditions, while 19% include enhanced daily living, against 34%. The average award is £113.82 a week. The claims that score higher give a distance in metres, the time it takes and how long you need to get your breath back, on most days rather than your best one.
awarded
The figures
COPD 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 | 92,337 | July 2026 |
| Average award a week | £113.82 | |
| Awards with enhanced daily living | 19% | |
| Awards with enhanced mobility | 42% | |
| Reconsiderations that changed the award | 26.9% |
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 COPD claims are refused.
About half of new COPD claims are refused after the assessment, usually because the form says you can walk or wash “slowly” without saying how far, how long or what it costs you. These four patterns lose the most points.
“Can walk if I take it slowly”
Taking it slowly is the point. A distance you can only cover by stopping every few metres, or that leaves you unable to do anything for half an hour, is not one you can walk in a reasonable time or repeatedly. Give the metres, the stops and the recovery time.
Exacerbations mentioned, never counted
“I get chest infections” does not score. A descriptor applies if it fits you on more than half the days, so say how many flare ups you had last year, how long each one lasted, and what you could not do during and after it.
The recovery time left out
Showering or dressing may be possible, but if you then have to sit for 20 minutes to get your breath back, that matters. Say what you have to stop and rest after, and for how long.
Breathlessness described, not its effect
“I get breathless” tells the decision maker nothing they can score. Say which task, at what point you stop, what you use (inhaler, oxygen, a perching stool) and who finishes it for you.
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 COPD 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 COPD this is often the whole case: a walk you can manage only with several stops, or that leaves you needing a long rest before you can do anything else, is not one you can do reliably.
Exacerbations and bad weather count in the same way. Count the days: “I could not get past the front door on 16 days in October because of a chest infection and the cold” is evidence; “I have good and bad days” is not. Add up the bad days across a typical month, not one week.
From symptoms to points
Which activities each symptom scores on.
The DWP does not score breathlessness, lung function or exacerbations. It scores the twelve activities. This is where each symptom lands.
| Symptom | The activities it scores on | What to describe |
|---|---|---|
| Breathlessness on walking and on slopes or stairs | Moving around, planning and following journeys | How far you can walk on the flat before you stop, how long it takes, how long you need to recover, and whether you can do it again later the same day. |
| Breathlessness when bending, lifting or reaching | Washing and bathing, dressing and undressing, preparing food, managing toilet needs | Whether you can wash your hair or feet, put on socks and shoes, lift a pan or stand at the hob, and the stool, aid or person you need. |
| Inhalers, nebulisers and home oxygen | Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | Who sets up and cleans the nebuliser, helps with oxygen, or checks your oxygen levels, and how many hours a week that takes. |
| Exacerbations and chest infections | Everything, during and after a flare up | How many you had in the last year, how long each lasted, any hospital stays, and how long it took to get back to your usual level. |
| Fatigue and anxiety about breathlessness | Everything, on the days it is worst | Tasks you start but cannot finish, the rest you need between them, and the trips you avoid because you fear being breathless away from home. |
Activity by activity
Does this apply to you?
These are the six activities where COPD 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
Standing at the hob, lifting a pan or kettle, carrying a plate, and whether you use a perching stool or microwave meals, or someone cooks for you, because standing and lifting leave you breathless.
Managing therapy or monitoring a health conditionActivity 3 · up to 8 pts
Setting up, using and cleaning a nebuliser, managing home oxygen and checking your oxygen levels, and whether someone does it or supervises you, and for how many hours a week.
Washing and bathingActivity 4 · up to 8 pts
Getting in and out of the bath or shower, washing your hair with your arms raised, the steam, and the seat, rail or person you need, plus the rest you need afterwards.
Managing toilet needs or incontinenceActivity 5 · up to 8 pts
Getting down onto and up from the toilet, cleaning yourself when bending leaves you breathless, the stairs to reach it, and the raised seat or rails you use.
Dressing and undressingActivity 6 · up to 8 pts
Bending for socks, shoes and trousers, raising your arms for tops, how long it takes, and whether you have to stop to get your breath back part way through.
Moving aroundActivity 12 · up to 12 pts
How far you can walk on the flat reliably: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. Count the stops and the time you need to get your breath back, not one walk on a good day.
The DWP counts the highest descriptor that applies in each activity. The six activities here are a guide for COPD; the calculator covers all twelve, including taking nutrition and planning and following journeys, where breathlessness while eating and the fear of an attack away from home 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.
“I get breathless in the shower but I manage.”
“The steam and lifting my arms make me too breathless to wash my hair or my legs and feet, so my wife washes them for me every time I shower, three times a week. I sit on a shower stool and hold a grab rail to get out. Afterwards I have to sit for about 20 minutes with my inhaler before I can get dressed, and the whole thing takes around an hour.”
“I can walk a bit but I get out of breath.”
“On most days I can walk about 30 metres on the flat, from my front door to the end of the next house, with a rollator to lean on, before I have to stop. That takes me around two minutes and I need five minutes to get my breath back before I can go on. In cold weather and during a chest infection, about ten days a month, I cannot get past my front gate.”
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 COPD claim.
A spirometry result shows how your lungs work, not what you can do, and the DWP does not award PIP on an FEV1 figure. These six carry the most weight, in this order.
The assessment
What to expect at a COPD 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 COPD.
Say what a bad day is like
The assessment may fall on a good day, sitting down. Tell the assessor how many days last month you could not get out, how many exacerbations you had last year, and say that today is not typical if it is not.
The assessor notes how you sound and move
They may note whether you were breathless while talking or walking to the camera, or at a face to face assessment how far you walked from the waiting room. Say if you had to stop, rest first or use your inhaler, and how you will be afterwards.
Give distances, times and recovery
“How far can you walk?” invites a guess. Use something you know, such as the distance to your gate or a bus stop, say how long it takes, where you stop, and how long you need before you can go on.
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 26.9% of COPD 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 COPD.
PIP is not the only benefit a COPD 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 COPD.
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
COPD and PIP: your questions.
Yes. 92,337 people get PIP for COPD, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, as their main condition, and 49.2% of new claims were awarded in the year to July 2026, against 44.8% for all conditions.
PIP is decided on how COPD affects your daily life, not on the diagnosis or your spirometry. What counts is how far you can walk and what help or aids you need to cook, wash, dress, use the toilet and manage your treatment.
£113.82 a week on average, a little below the £118.77 average for all conditions. 42% of awards include enhanced mobility and 19% enhanced daily living. The 2026/27 rates are £76.70 or £114.60 a week for daily living and £30.30 or £80.00 for mobility.
Yes, and it is where COPD most often scores. If you cannot stand and then move more than 20 metres reliably, that is 12 points and the enhanced mobility rate; 20 to 50 metres with a walking aid is 10 points and 20 to 50 metres without one is 8, both the standard rate.
“Reliably” means safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time, so the stops and the time you need to get your breath back count.
There is no set number for COPD; your points depend on what you cannot do reliably. Moving around alone gives up to 12 points. Daily living points add up across the activities: 8 is the standard rate and 12 the enhanced rate.
For COPD they usually come from preparing food, managing therapy, washing, dressing and using the toilet, where bending, lifting and standing leave you breathless.
None. PIP has no FEV1 or spirometry threshold. Two people with the same lung function can score very differently, because PIP looks at what you can do, so send your spirometry as background and describe the effect on your walking and daily tasks.
No. Many people get PIP for COPD without home oxygen. If you do use oxygen, say how many hours a day, whether you need it to walk, how far you can go with it, and who helps you manage it.
No. PIP looks at how your condition affects you now, not at what caused it. Your smoking history should play no part in the decision, and you do not need to have stopped smoking to claim.
Count the days. A descriptor applies if it fits you on more than half the days, and you can add up bad days across a typical month. Say how many exacerbations you had last year, how long each lasted and how long it took you to recover.
Keep a diary for a month before you fill in the form, including the days you stay in because of the cold or the air quality.
Yes. 26,581 people get PIP with asthma as their main condition, and 36.2% of new claims were awarded in the year to July 2026 (4,919 decisions). The activities and the evidence are the same as for COPD: walking distance, recovery time and the help you need.
Yes. PIP does not depend on whether you work or on your income. It is decided on what you can and cannot do in the twelve activities, so describe the help you need at home and the time you spend recovering.
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 NG115 on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in over 16s · GOV.UK, PIP rates 2026/27.
Last reviewed