What counts as PIP medical evidence?
PIP medical evidence is anything from a professional that shows how your condition affects everyday life. PIP is paid for the effect of a long term physical or mental health condition or disability on daily living and getting around, not for the diagnosis itself. Two people with the same diagnosis can have very different needs.
The activities cover preparing food, eating, managing treatment, washing, using the toilet, dressing, communicating, reading, mixing with people and managing money, plus planning a route and following it, and moving around. In Scotland, PIP does not apply; you apply for Adult Disability Payment instead.
What makes evidence useful?
Being able to do something once is not the test. DWP guidance says an activity has to be done safely, to an acceptable standard, as often as you need to and in a reasonable time, which it defines as no more than twice as long as it would take someone without your condition. It also looks at whether difficulties affect you on more than half the days over 12 months.
So the evidence that helps describes a typical week, including the bad days: who prompts you, who stays nearby, what happens afterwards and how long it takes. Your own account on the How your disability affects you form matters too, and you usually have 1 month to return it.
Supported performance vs. independent performance: Explain how you manage when support is removed. Remaining in employment (especially with workplace adjustments or working from home), looking composed at an appointment, or eating a meal someone else has prepared shows retained ability in a structured setting. It does not prove you can manage unaided every day. Useful evidence describes the unseen work a partner, family member or carer does behind the scenes: laying out clothes, repeated reminders to eat or take regular treatment, managing household finances to prevent impulsive decisions, or accompanying you on unfamiliar routes.
Initiation vs. physical capability: Under DWP guidance, activities cover starting and following through with a task, not only physical movement. Being physically able to chew and swallow, put on clothes, or heat food is different from having the motivation, memory and attention to initiate and complete a simple cooked meal from fresh ingredients, maintain an eating or treatment routine, or get washed and dressed without repeated prompting from another person.
Where does the evidence come from?
Start with what you already hold. GOV.UK asks you to include supporting documents you have, such as a list of your medicines, care plans and information from professionals involved in your care.
- Records you already hold: clinic and hospital letters, discharge summaries, test results and a list of your medicines. Your GP practice or hospital can tell you how to get copies.
- Your NHS GP: your GP record shows your conditions, treatment and how things have changed. DWP can also ask your GP or specialist for a factual report, and its guidance asks them for facts with dated observations.
- Specialists and therapists who know you: consultant letters, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, mental health or pain clinic letters, and care plans.
- A private independent report: an assessment by a doctor, written with the PIP activities in mind.
How can a video consultation help me organise my evidence?
A 30 minute video consultation with a doctor, currently Dr Alpa J. Morawala, is a structured conversation about your evidence. Before you claim, while you fill in the form, or after a decision, it can help you:
- go through the records you already hold and what each one shows
- match your difficulties to the PIP activities, so nothing important is left out
- spot gaps, and work out which professional is best placed to fill them
- think through how to describe variation, bad days and the help you need
How is the written PIP report different?
The video consultation is a conversation, not an assessment of your function and not a written report. It cannot observe walking, balance or how you manage at home.
A PIP functional and medical assessment and report is a separate, paid service. Dr Mitesh Parmar MBBS MRCGP (GMC 6113670), Principal GP and Medical Director, has over 20 years of clinical experience and previously worked (2013 to 2014) as a Registered Medical Practitioner conducting medical and disability assessments on behalf of the DWP and Ministry of Defence. He assesses you in person at Clinique Alpa, 466 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, in an appointment of up to an hour and reads the evidence agreed with you. The report reconciles your clinical interview with your supplied NHS, specialist and DWP/Tribunal documents across all 12 PIP activities (10 Daily Living and 2 Mobility), separates your account from documentary findings and clinical observations, and states any evidential limitations plainly so a DWP decision maker or First tier Tribunal can rely on it. A separate mandatory reconsideration and tribunal report covers challenges to a decision. Reports are usually ready 48 to 72 hours after the assessment, once all records are in.
This is a private independent medical report. It is not a DWP assessment and it is not a guarantee of an award.
DWP does not require you to obtain new medical evidence. You can send evidence you already hold, including copies of your records. Our fee pays for an assessment and an independent opinion, not for a result.
This is an independent clinical opinion. It cannot be written to a required conclusion and does not guarantee the outcome of any claim, application, exemption or hearing.
What if my PIP claim was refused?
If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration, usually within 1 month of the date of the decision. You can ask later if you have a good reason, such as a hospital stay. Read the assessment report alongside your evidence: what it missed is where new evidence can help. Citizens Advice or a welfare rights adviser can help with forms, decisions and challenges.
NHS GP notes and hospital clinic letters record diagnoses and acute treatment rather than domestic function, which is why DWP decision makers at initial decision or Mandatory Reconsideration sometimes state there is "no medical evidence" of a difficulty (such as mixing with people or managing routines) simply because no clinician has taken a structured functional history.
When to seek help
Call 999 for a medical emergency, such as chest pain, signs of a stroke or severe breathlessness.
Call NHS 111 if you need urgent medical advice and are not sure where to go.
Book an appointment to talk through your evidence once you have your form or decision letter and your records together.
Call Clinique Alpa today to speak to a clinician directly.
020 8882 8088
What happens at a consultation at Clinique Alpa
There are two routes, and they do different jobs. The video consultation is 30 minutes with a doctor, booked and paid online, with the link sent by email. You talk through your claim, your records and the PIP activities, and agree what evidence you still need and where it could come from. Afterwards you receive a brief summary note of the evidence gaps and next steps discussed, which is not a written PIP report.
The written report starts with an in person assessment with Dr Mitesh Parmar at 466 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, or a home visit where attending the clinic is difficult. He confirms the scope and fee in writing before anything starts, takes a full history, reviews the agreed evidence and observes what is relevant to function. The report is sent to you to use with your claim. With your consent, a summary goes to your NHS GP.
Any letter or report is written only where clinically appropriate after assessment, and no particular outcome can be promised.
Fees for every type of appointment are on our doctor consultation fees page.
What to prepare
- Your PIP form or How your disability affects you form, if you have started it.
- Any DWP letters, including the decision letter and assessment report, and any deadline in them.
- Letters, discharge summaries, test results, a list of your medicines and care plans you already hold.
- The names of professionals involved in your care, and a note of a typical week, including a bad day.