Benefits and Work has obtained details of the conditions which have the highest number of awards with no 4-point or higher descriptors.
The figures, provided under the Freedom of Information Act, show that Labour's PIP cuts are overwhelmingly aimed at older, but still working age, claimants with physical health conditions, many of whom will have been employed for most of their adult life and many of whom will still be employed..
Almost half (46%) of all working age PIP claimants are at risk of losing their award on review from November 2026
Nearly eight out of ten awards where back pain is the primary disabling condition are at risk under the proposed 4-point or higher rule
This is closely followed by arthritis, where more than three quarters of awards are threatened.
The conditions least likely to lose out are learning disabilities, where only 3% are at risk and autistic spectrum disorders at 6%
These figures only cover working age claimants. There is a lack of clarity from the DWP about what will happen to pension age claimants from November 2026.
According to these statistics there are a total of 2,795,000 working age PIP claimants and 1,296,000 (46%) are at risk of losing their award on review from November 2026.
| Rank | Health condition category | Volume of PIP Claimants in receipt of Daily Living component | Claimants awarded less than 4 points in all daily living activities | |
| Volume in each condition group | Proportion in each condition group | |||
| 1 | Back pain | 194,000 | 154,000 | 79% |
| 2 | Arthritis | 279,000 | 214,000 | 77% |
| 3 | Other Regional Musculoskeletal Diseases | 136,000 | 97,000 | 71% |
| 4 | Chronic pain syndromes | 173,000 | 118,000 | 68% |
| 5 | Cardiovascular diseases | 61,000 | 38,000 | 62% |
| 6 | Respiratory diseases | 83,000 | 45,000 | 55% |
| 7 | Anxiety and depression | 587,000 | 282,000 | 48% |
| 8 | Multiple sclerosis and neuropathic diseases | 80,000 | 38,000 | 48% |
| 9 | All other conditions | 272,000 | 126,000 | 46% |
| 10 | Other neurological diseases | 97,000 | 35,000 | 36% |
| 11 | Cerebrovascular disease | 56,000 | 19,000 | 34% |
| 12 | Cancer | 70,000 | 23,000 | 33% |
| 13 | Epilepsy | 36,000 | 11,000 | 30% |
| 14 | Other psychiatric disorders | 90,000 | 25,000 | 28% |
| 15 | Cerebral Palsy and Neurological Muscular Diseases | 47,00 | 11,000 | 24% |
| 16 | Psychotic disorders | 112,000 | 26,000 | 23% |
| 17 | ADHD/ADD | 75,000 | 14,000 | 19% |
| 18 | Autistic spectrum disorders | 206,000 | 13,000 | 6% |
| 19 | Learning disabilities | 188,000 | 7,000 | 3% |
DWP Notes
Health condition category is based on primary health condition as recorded on the PIP Computer System at time of latest assessment. Many claimants have multiple health conditions but only primary condition is available for analysis.
Only the 18 disabling condition groups which make up the highest proportions of the PIP caseload are displayed in this table.
Other disabling condition groups which cover smaller proportions of the PIP caseload are covered in the "Other Conditions" category. This includes:
- Visual Diseases
- Other General Musculoskeletal Diseases
- Endocrine Diseases
- Hearing Disorders
- Gastrointestinal Diseases
- Genitourinary Diseases
- Skin Diseases
- Autoimmune Diseases (Connective Tissue Disorders)
- Infectious Diseases
- Diseases of the Liver, Gallbladder or Biliary Tract
- Haematological Diseases
- Metabolic Diseases
- Multisystem and Extremes of Age
- Diseases of the Immune System
Anxiety and Depression includes the following conditions recorded in the PIP Stat Xplore data:
- Anxiety disorders - Other / type not known
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Stress reaction disorders - Other / type not known
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Phobia - Specific
- Phobia - Social
- Agoraphobia
- Panic disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Anxiety and depressive disorders - mixed
- Conversion disorder (hysteria)
- Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
- Dissociative disorders - Other / type not known
- Somatoform disorders - Other / type not known
- Depressive disorder
- Bipolar affective disorder (Hypomania / Mania)
- Mood disorders - Other / type not known
