Does migraine 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 migraine its own row. In the 12 months from May 2025 to April 2026 DWP made 3,531 decisions on new claims where migraine was the primary condition recorded, and 21.6% of them ended in an award, against 39.6% across all conditions (withdrawn claims left out). In April 2026, 6,052 people had a current award recorded under migraine. 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 migraine 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 attacks 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
“In an attack the light over the hob and the smell of cooking make me feel sick, and I cannot stand at the cooker for more than a few minutes before I have to sit down in the dark.
Twice I have gone to lie down with a pan still on the heat, so on those days I no longer use the hob at all. I eat what is already in the fridge or put something in the microwave, and my sister cooks extra at the weekend to cover the bad days. Between attacks I make my own meals as normal.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 1c reads "Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave" and 1e reads "Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal", so say what you manage on an attack day, what you leave out, and whether someone has to be there.
Example onlyDaily living activity 2: Taking nutrition
“During an attack I feel too sick to eat and I forget to drink until the headache is much worse.
My husband brings me a glass of water and a plain biscuit every couple of hours and stays until I have finished them. If he is at work I often have nothing until the evening. It can take a day after the pain goes before I can face a proper meal.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 2d reads "Needs prompting to be able to take nutrition", so name who reminds you to eat and drink, how often that happens and what happens when nobody is there.
Example onlyDaily living activity 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
“I take a triptan at the start of an attack and a preventer tablet every night, and I keep a diary of attacks and of everything I take for them.
Once an attack is under way I cannot think clearly enough to remember whether I have taken the triptan, and twice I took a second dose too soon. My partner now writes the time on a card by the bed and reminds me when the next dose is allowed. He also fills in the diary for me while I lie with my eyes closed.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 3b includes "supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage medication", so describe who reminds you, how often, and what went wrong on the occasions when nobody did.
Example onlyDaily living activity 4: Washing and bathing
“The bathroom light and the noise of the shower are too much in an attack, and the heat makes the sickness worse.
I wash at the sink with the light off, sitting on a stool, and I cannot manage my hair, so my mother washes it for me over the bath. On those days I do not get in or out of the bath unless someone is in the house, in case I turn dizzy. Between attacks I shower alone.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 4d reads "Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist" and 4c reads "Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe", so say which parts someone else does and whether you have to wait until somebody is home.
Example onlyMobility activity 1: Planning and following journeys
“When aura starts while I am out, zigzag lines cover part of my sight and I cannot read signs or see traffic properly, so I have to stop where I am until it passes, which can take up to an hour.
Last spring I stood outside a station for twenty minutes until my brother came to find me. Since then I do not go anywhere unfamiliar on my own, and on routes I know I carry my phone with his number on the lock screen. In a good week I make short familiar trips alone.”
Why this detail matters: Descriptor 1d reads "Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid", so describe what aura does to your sight, whether you can read signs and see traffic while it lasts, how often it has happened, and who you need with you.
Example onlyMobility activity 2: Moving around
“With aura I can feel dizzy and unsteady, and when it hits I stop and hold on to a wall or sit on the kerb until it passes, which takes ten to fifteen minutes.
On those days I cannot rely on walking to the end of my road, about 150 metres, and my partner drives me anywhere. On days with no aura I walk to the shops, around 400 metres away, without stopping.”
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", and the test asks about doing it safely and repeatedly, so give the distance on an attack day, how often those days come and what you do when dizziness starts.
Activities migraine can touch
Which activities matter depends on your attacks, so use this as a prompt and not as a checklist. The NHS page on migraine lists the main symptoms as a throbbing headache, feeling or being sick, and sensitivity to light and sound, with aura (sight changes, tingling, dizziness, difficulty speaking) for some people, and says attacks usually last between 4 hours and 3 days.
- Daily living 1, preparing food: standing at a cooker, light, smell and nausea in an attack. 1c, microwave only, is 2 points. 1e, needs supervision or assistance, is 4.
- Daily living 2, taking nutrition: eating and drinking during an attack. 2d, needs prompting to take nutrition, is 4 points.
- Daily living 3, managing therapy or monitoring a health condition: help to manage medication or to monitor your condition is 3b, 1 point. Schedule 1 does not count taking medication as therapy.
- Daily living 4, washing and bathing: 4b, aid or appliance, 4c, supervision or prompting, and 4d, assistance to wash your hair or body below the waist, are each 2 points.
- Mobility 1 and 2: following a route when aura or dizziness comes on, and how far you can move, safely and repeatedly.
Attacks 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. If an attack takes you out for two days and you are slow for another day either side, say that, and say how many such weeks you have in a month.
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 on an attack day 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.
- A diary of attacks. NICE guideline CG150 lists what a headache diary used for diagnosis should record, for at least 8 weeks: frequency, duration and severity, associated symptoms, medicines taken, possible triggers and the link to periods.
- A list of the medicines for attacks and for prevention, with dates, from your prescription record.
- A letter from your GP or the clinic that treats your migraine, naming the type and how often attacks happen.
- A short note from someone who sees you in an attack, saying what they do for you.
Our medical evidence guide covers asking for your records.
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 migraine 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. Migraine is looked at the same way as any other condition: through what happens to you on the 12 activities, not through the diagnosis.
My attacks come and go. Does that matter?
It matters, and the rules allow for it. Regulation 7 says a descriptor applies where it is satisfied on over 50% of the days of the required period, and a day counts if it is likely you would have satisfied the descriptor had you been assessed on that day. So the question to answer is how many days out of 7 an attack, or the days around it, change what you can do.
Do I need a headache diary?
PIP does not ask for one. NICE guideline CG150 says a headache diary can be used to help diagnose primary headaches, and that a diary used for that should record frequency, duration and severity, associated symptoms, medicines taken, possible triggers and the link to periods, for at least 8 weeks. The same record shows a decision maker how often attacks happen and how long they last.
Does it matter that I am between attacks when I am assessed?
The assessment looks at the required period, not the day it happens. Describe an attack day and the days either side, say how often they happen, and also say what you can do on the days between. Regulation 4(2A) asks whether you can do each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time period.
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 CG150, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management. Published 19 September 2012, last updated 3 June 2025. Read 7 October 2026.
- NHS, Migraine. Page last reviewed 10 March 2026. Read 7 October 2026.
- DWP Stat-Xplore, PIP caseload April 2026 and decisions May 2025 to April 2026 (16 June 2026 release). Our analysis, row 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.