Does asthma count?
PIP has no list of conditions. GOV.UK says you must have difficulty with tasks most of the time, meaning more than half of the days over a 12-month period.
DWP's own figures give asthma its own row. In the 12 months from May 2025 to April 2026 DWP made 4,820 decisions on new claims where asthma was the primary condition recorded, and 36.0% of them ended in an award, against 39.6% across all conditions (withdrawn claims left out). In April 2026, 26,052 people had a current award recorded under asthma. These are past decisions in aggregate. They say nothing about any one claim. The source is DWP Stat-Xplore, PIP caseload April 2026 and decisions May 2025 to April 2026, 16 June 2026 release, and the asthma row shows the full figures.
Example answers you could adapt
These are illustrations of the kind of detail that helps, not your story. Describe your own asthma in your own words. Never copy an example, or any part of one, that is not true for you. Descriptor wording is quoted from Schedule 1 to the PIP Regulations.
Example onlyDaily living activity 1: Preparing food
“On days when my chest is tight, standing at the hob makes me cough, and steam from a boiling pan sets me off wheezing, so I stop what I am doing to use my reliever and sit until it eases.
I have abandoned a half-made meal several times this winter. On those days I make toast or heat a ready meal in the microwave, and my flatmate takes over if I am still wheezing after ten minutes. When my asthma is settled I cook as normal.”
Why this detail matters: Whether you stop cooking altogether on a tight-chest day or only use the microwave is what separates the lines, and 1c reads "Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave", so say which it is, how many days in a week, and whether someone steps in.
Example onlyDaily living activity 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
“I use a preventer inhaler morning and evening and a reliever when I wheeze, and my asthma nurse found that I was not pressing and breathing in together, so I was getting very little medicine.
When my chest is bad I get flustered and my technique gets worse, so my mum watches me use the spacer and counts the doses left on the counter. She also reminds me to start the steps in my action plan when my symptoms are getting worse, because I tend to wait too long.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 3b includes "supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage medication", so say who checks your technique, who reminds you to follow your action plan, and what has happened when nobody did.
Example onlyDaily living activity 4: Washing and bathing
“Steam from a hot shower sets me coughing, so I run it lukewarm with the fan on and the door open.
Scented soap and spray deodorant can also set me off, so I use unscented ones. After a wash I often need to sit on the bed for ten minutes with my reliever before I can dry myself. On days when my chest is tight my girlfriend stays in the flat while I wash, in case I cannot get my breath back.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 4b reads "Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe" and 4c reads "Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe", so spell out what you change for yourself and what you can only do with someone nearby.
Example onlyDaily living activity 6: Dressing and undressing
“Bending to pull on socks and trousers squeezes my chest, so I sit on the side of my bed and take breaks.
During a flare-up I cannot catch my breath enough to finish, and my husband takes over the shoes and socks while I use my inhaler. On those mornings dressing takes about twenty-five minutes instead of ten. When I am well I dress alone and need no help.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 6d reads "Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their lower body" and 6b reads "Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress", so note which clothes someone else puts on, how often, and how long dressing takes when your chest is tight.
Example onlyMobility activity 1: Planning and following journeys
“Since an attack in the street last year that ended with an ambulance, I get very anxious about being far from help, and I check three times that my reliever is in my bag before I leave.
In the pollen season and on cold mornings I often turn back at the door. My sister comes with me to anywhere I do not know. On days when my chest is settled I go to the local shops alone.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 1b reads "Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant" and 1e reads "Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant", so describe what happens when you try to go out, how often, and who has to prompt you or come with you. Schedule 1 says ‘psychological distress’ means distress related to an enduring mental health condition or an intellectual or cognitive impairment, so these two lines apply only if you also have a mental health condition such as an anxiety disorder; if you do, name it and send evidence of it.
Example onlyMobility activity 2: Moving around
“In cold air my chest tightens a couple of minutes into a walk, and on a bad day I stop four or five times on the way to the end of the road, about 100 metres, and use my reliever before I can carry on.
At least once a week this winter I have turned back before reaching the bus stop. In summer, with my asthma settled, I can walk to the park, around 600 metres, without needing to stop.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 2b reads "Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided", so give the distance you reach before stopping on a bad day, how often you stop, and how that changes with the weather or the season.
Activities asthma can touch
Which activities matter depends on you, so use this as a prompt and not as a checklist. The NHS page on asthma lists wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and a tight chest as the main symptoms, says they can be triggered by things such as exercise, air pollution, cold air or something you are allergic to, and says asthma affects everyone differently.
- Daily living 1, preparing food: standing at a cooker or steam setting off symptoms. 1c, microwave only, is 2 points. 1d, needs prompting, is 2. 1e, needs supervision or assistance, is 4.
- Daily living 3, managing therapy or monitoring a health condition: help with inhalers or with following your action plan is 3b, 1 point. Schedule 1 does not count taking medication as therapy.
- Daily living 4 and 6, washing and dressing: 4b, aid or appliance, 4c, supervision or prompting, and 6d, assistance to dress your lower body, are each 2 points.
- Mobility 1 and 2: going out when you fear an attack away from help, and how far you can move, safely and repeatedly. Schedule 1 defines psychological distress as distress related to an enduring mental health condition or an intellectual or cognitive impairment, so 1b and 1e apply only on that basis.
Symptoms that come and go
Regulation 7 says that where one descriptor is satisfied on over 50% of the days of the required period, that descriptor applies, and that a descriptor is satisfied on a day if it is likely that, had you been assessed that day, you would have satisfied it. Where two or more descriptors are each satisfied on over 50% of the days, the one that scores higher applies. For a new claim the required period is the 3 months before the prescribed date and the 9 months after it.
That is why the useful thing to say is a number of days. The NHS says asthma symptoms usually come and go and may be worse at night and early in the morning, so say how many days a month your symptoms change what you can do, and what a day like that looks like.
Regulation 4(2A) adds that you are assessed as satisfying a descriptor only if you can do the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time period. For each activity, say what happens against each of those four.
Evidence to send
GOV.UK says to include supporting documents with the form, for example prescription lists, care plans or information from your doctor or others involved in your care.
- Your personalised asthma action plan. NICE guideline NG245 says people with asthma should be offered a self-management programme with a documented personalised action plan and education, so you should have one on file.
- A list of the inhalers and other asthma medicines you have been prescribed, with the dates they changed, from your prescription record.
- Records of attacks: A&E or hospital attendances, GP appointments after an attack, and steroid courses. The NHS lists steroid tablets or injections among hospital treatments for a severe attack.
- Notes from asthma reviews, including checks on how you use your inhaler.
- A short note from someone who sees you when your chest is bad, saying what they do for you.
Our medical evidence guide covers asking for your records.
Sleep apnoea
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a different condition from asthma and this guide does not cover it. DWP's figures give it a row of its own: in May 2025 to April 2026 there were 3,225 decisions on new claims, 18.7% of them ended in an award, and 3,900 people had a current award in April 2026. The figures are in the sleep apnoea row of the award-rate table. The rules on this page, regulation 7, regulation 4(2A) and the 12 activities, apply to any condition.
The form and the assessment
GOV.UK says you start by phone or by post, then complete a form called How your disability affects you, which you should return within 1 month, and that you might be invited to an assessment if more information is needed. The assessment can be at an assessment centre, at your home, by phone or by video call, usually takes about 1 hour, and you can have someone with you. Our PIP2 guide goes through the form question by question, and the example answers hub shows the level of detail across all 12 activities.
Reviews and changes
GOV.UK says a first award runs between 9 months and 10 years, and the letter that approves it tells you when it will end and whether it will be reviewed. At a review you get a form called Personal Independence Payment Review to return within 1 month, you keep being paid while it is looked at, and if your needs have changed your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped. You must tell the PIP enquiry line straight away if you need more or less help with daily living and mobility tasks. If you disagree with a decision you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration, covered in our mandatory reconsideration guide.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
PIP is for England and Wales. In Scotland you apply for Adult Disability Payment instead. GOV.UK has a separate page for Northern Ireland, and our Northern Ireland guide starts from it.
Frequently asked questions
Is asthma a condition PIP covers?
PIP does not list conditions. GOV.UK says it is for people with a long-term physical or mental health condition who have difficulty with certain everyday tasks or getting around because of it. Asthma is looked at the same way as any other condition: through what happens to you on the 12 activities, not through the diagnosis.
My asthma is well controlled most of the time. Does that matter?
It matters, and you should say so honestly. The NHS says that for most people inhalers work well and asthma has only a small impact on daily life, but that some people have more severe symptoms that are harder to control. PIP looks at your own pattern over the required period: regulation 7 asks on how many days a descriptor is satisfied, so say how many days out of 7 your symptoms change what you can do.
Does needing an inhaler count as help with medication?
Descriptor 3b covers needing an aid or appliance to manage medication, or supervision, prompting or assistance to manage medication or to monitor a health condition. What the form wants to know is whether you need a device or another person to manage your inhalers, for example someone checking your technique or reminding you to follow your action plan, and how often.
What about my sleep apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a different condition and has its own row in DWP's figures. This page is about asthma only. The row for sleep apnoea is linked in the Sleep apnoea section above.
Does this guide work in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
PIP is for England and Wales. GOV.UK says that in Scotland you apply for Adult Disability Payment instead, and it has a separate page for Northern Ireland.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), pages on what PIP is for, how to claim, after you have applied and reviews. Read 7 October 2026.
- Schedule 1, SI 2013/377, activities and descriptors. Wording checked against our copy of 2 October 2026.
- Regulation 4 and regulation 7, SI 2013/377.
- NICE guideline NG245, Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management (BTS, NICE, SIGN). Published 27 November 2024. Read 7 October 2026.
- NHS, Asthma. Read 7 October 2026.
- DWP Stat-Xplore, PIP caseload April 2026 and decisions May 2025 to April 2026 (16 June 2026 release). Our analysis, rows linked above.
General information and document drafting, not benefits advice. Finally Seen is not affiliated with DWP or the NHS and does not guarantee any award. Check current guidance at gov.uk before sending.