PIP Application Support › Arthritis
PIP and Arthritis: Do You Qualify?
Last updated: April 2026 · Reviewed by: Silverwings Benefits Team · Source: DWP
Arthritis and related joint conditions — classed by the DWP as “musculoskeletal disease (general)” — are the second most common condition behind PIP awards, at around 19% of all claims. If you’re under State Pension age and joint pain, stiffness or reduced grip affects your daily living or your ability to get around, PIP is worth checking, whatever the specific type of arthritis.
Official DWP figures
Musculoskeletal disease (general), which includes most forms of arthritis, is recorded as the main condition on around 19% of PIP claims under normal rules — the second largest category after psychiatric disorders.
Important: there’s no list of qualifying conditions
PIP isn’t awarded because of a diagnosis — it’s assessed against detailed daily-living and mobility descriptors that measure how much help you need, not what your condition is called. Two people with arthritis can score very differently, and both routes below start with a no-obligation check.
No obligation, 2 minutes. Register your interest ahead of our launch.
How Arthritis Can Affect Daily Life
These are the kinds of everyday difficulties that can be relevant to a PIP claim. Not everyone with arthritis experiences all of these, and some people experience difficulties not listed here — this is general context, not a checklist to copy onto a form.
Dressing and undressing
Stiff or painful joints in the hands, shoulders or hips can make buttons, zips and reaching awkward, slow or impossible without help.
Preparing food
Gripping utensils, opening jars, or standing at a worktop for any length of time can become genuinely painful or unsafe.
Moving around
Both the daily living and mobility components can be relevant — stairs, standing from a chair, and walking distance can all be affected.
Managing medication and treatment
Ongoing pain management, injections or physiotherapy routines are a genuine daily or weekly task, not a one-off.
Washing and bathing
Getting in and out of a bath or shower, or standing to wash, can be difficult or unsafe without an aid or someone nearby.
Variability day to day
Arthritis symptoms often fluctuate significantly — the assessment should reflect your bad days, not just how you present on a good one.
How Much Could You Get?
PIP has two components — Daily Living and Mobility — each paid at a standard or enhanced rate depending on your assessment score. You can be awarded either or both.
£76.70–£114.60/wk
Daily Living
Standard or enhanced rate
£30.30–£80.00/wk
Mobility
Standard or enhanced rate
Maximum combined award: £194.60/wk (£10,119/year) — tax-free, not means-tested, and doesn’t affect your State Pension.
Why Not Apply Alone?
Arthritis-related PIP claims are often under-scored because it’s easy to downplay day-to-day joint pain, especially during a face-to-face or telephone assessment on a comparatively good day. Describing the real, worst-case impact clearly — and how often it happens — is exactly the kind of detail a well-prepared application gets right.
PIP success rates vary hugely by how well the daily-living and mobility descriptors are answered — the same underlying condition can score very differently depending on how clearly the real-world impact is described. That’s the part our team focuses on.
Check If You're Eligible
Check if you could be eligible and register your interest ahead of our launch. No obligation, no pressure.
Over State Pension age instead? Attendance Allowance is the equivalent benefit for you.