In 2023, there were 136,000 PIP claimants with fibromyalgia listed as their main disabling condition. This makes it the fourth most common condition to get an award of PIP for out of over 500 conditions listed by the DWP.

So, if you have fibromyalgia and it affects your daily living activities, such as cooking, washing, dressing or mixing with other people or your ability to get around, you should definitely consider making a claim.

Success rates

The success rate for PIP claims for fibromyalgia is 62%, compared to an overall average of 53%.  So you have a better than average chance of getting an award for fibromyalgia.

Award rates

26.5% of PIP claimants with fibromyalgia, get the enhanced rate of both the daily living and the mobility component. 

Daily living awards
Enhanced daily living 34%

Standard daily living 65%

No daily living 1%

Mobility awards
Enhanced mobility 42%

Standard mobility 33%

No mobility 25%

99% of claimants with fibromyalgia who get an award get the daily living component, compared to 75% who get the mobility component.

Age range

The ages of those currently in receipt of PIP for fibromyalgia are:

  • 16-29 years  4%
  • 30-49 years  35%
  • 50-64 years  48%
  • 65 and over  13%

PIP rates

The rates of PIP from April 2024 are:

Daily Living component
Standard rate: £72.65
Enhanced rate: £108.55

Mobility component
Standard rate: £28.70
Enhanced rate: £75.75

 So, an award of the enhanced rate of PIP for both components means an extra £184.30 a week. 

PIP  is paid on top of almost every other benefit and may lead to an increase in some benefits or entitlement to additional benefits.

The enhanced rate of the mobility component also gives access to the Motability scheme.

Learn more or take the test

You can read more about claiming PIP for fibromyalgia or take our simple online test now to find out if you might be able to make a claim.

PIP test for Fibromyalgia

How you qualify for PIP

This information applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland – Scotland has a separate system.  You need to be aged at least 18 before you can receive PIP and you need to start your claim before you reach state pension age.

The best way to decide whether you might be eligible for PIP is to look through this list of PIP activities and think about the ways that your condition affects your ability to carry them out.  You are awarded points according to the level of difficulty you have with each of these activities, with sufficient points leading to an award of PIP.

Daily living activities
There are 10 daily living activities:

  • Preparing food
  • Taking nutrition
  • Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
  • Washing and bathing
  • Managing toilet needs or incontinence
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Communicating verbally
  • Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words
  • Engaging with other people face-to-face
  • Making budgeting decisions

Mobility activities
There are two mobility activities:

  • Planning and following journeys
  • Moving around

Remember that you need to be able to complete the activities

  • to a reasonable standard,
  • safely,
  • repeatedly
  • taking no more than twice as long as it would take a person without a health condition.

Points for fibromyalgia

Below are some examples of the issues that you might have because of fibromyalgia.  Do remember, that if you have other conditions, you can take those into account too.

Because of fibromyalgia related cognitive issues (fibro fog), you may have difficulty following cooking instructions and so not prepare food to an acceptable standard.

You may not have any appetite for food because of stomach pain, bloating or nausea and so need prompting or supervision to eat and drink.

Stiffness in your limbs may mean you are unable to pull clothes over your head or reach down to your feet to dress or undress, even with the use of aids, and so need assistance.

Fibro fog may prevent you from being able to follow timetables or read maps to plan a journey or may mean that you take more than twice as long as someone who does not have fibromyalgia.

There are more examples of how you might score points for fibromyalgia in our PIP test for fibromyalgia.

Benefits and Work members can also download a ten page, ‘PIP for Fibromyalgia Supplementary Guide’ from the PIP guides page with many more examples and detailed case studies, to complement our main guide to claiming PIP.

PIP test for Fibromyalgia

Take the next step 

Claiming PIP isn't easy. And getting the correct award is even harder.

But there are things you can do to greatly increase your chances of getting the right result.

One of them is to use our highly detailed, step-by-step Guide to PIP claims and reviews, which will support you through every stage of the system.

Because filling in the 37 page PIP2 ‘How your disability affects you’ form in as much detail as possible is vital.

It not only means you are giving accurate and consistent evidence from the outset, it also improves your chances of overturning an unfair decision if you have to go to appeal.  

Our guide takes you through the PIP2 form, box-by-box, explaining the kind of information you need to put in each one.

Being fully prepared for an assessment is vital too. Knowing what questions you are likely to be asked and what unspoken assumptions may be made based on your answers, unless you deal with them, can make all the difference.  Our guide will ensure you are as ready as you possibly can be.

And because we’ve been supporting claimants for 20 years and have a community of thousands of members who keep us updated with their experiences, we can make sure you are prepared for any unfair tactics the DWP might employ.

And we have guides to every other part of your PIP claim too, from mandatory reconsideration, to appeal to review.  Plus a forum where you can ask questions, regular news items and more.

So, whether you’ve tried claiming PIP before and been unsuccessful, or you’ve never had any experience of the benefits system, join the Benefits and Work community to give yourself the best possible chance of getting the right award.

Even if you are not ready to subscribe to the site yet, you can download our guide to ‘The First Steps To PIP Success’ for free and also join the 120,000 people who subscribe to our free fortnightly newsletter.

Finally, if you have claimed PIP for Fibromyalgia, please share your experience - good or bad - with readers in the comments section below.

PIP test for Fibromyalgia

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 3 days ago
    Guys the bottom line is this.
    Is it not about your illness. Its about how your illness  "affects daily life and living,  if you can dress, wash, walk etc"
    It is the aids etc you need to support your daily life , the care you need etc, it is this they take in to consideration, not necessarily the actual illness.
    My partner has multiple problems including Fibromyalgia,  he's the bionic man in all honesty, along with a list so long I added 8 addition hand written pages to his pip form.......
    I wish you all the best! X
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I have just been diagnosed with hypermobility and fibromyalgia. I have waited 20 years to find out what has caused constant pain and fatigue, I'm 66 and still working as a self employed carer/companion. this last year I have struggled a lot more to carry on working however I can do most things with some help from my husband so I am doubtful that I would get any financial help. I just feel so cross that it has taken 20 years to get a diagnosis. I will retire soon on a state pension and then I will join a gym to access swimming and pilates classes as I find that excercise helps as long as I don't overdo it, Its cheaper to join my local health centre gym than pay for individual swimming and classes. GP'S used to be able to refer you to a gym but I don't think that happens anymore.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Hello can anyone help. My partner has failed to get any level of pip following a mandatory review despite having fibromyalgia alongside other health conditions and being in constant pain etc every day? Going for a tribunal but we don’t know exactly what else we should put as the first few stages have just dismissed everything we have said and scored her low. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 6 months ago
    Do you have a pip claim  test for Ehlers Danlos, autonomic dysfunction, Sygrens syndrome and Lupus as well as the fibtomyalgia as I have all of these.  Thank you 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 6 months ago
    Disgraceful roll on a labour government 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 6 months ago
    Only a government which are millionaires would won’t a scheme like this😡 maybe another governing body need to look into and access all of their monies and what they are spending their so called hard earned cash on !! Like holidays, expenses and underhanded business deals…. And as for his comments about disabled and sick claimants are shirkers I would like to tell him that never in my life I would have ever thought that I would end up constantly unwell with health issues that can not be cured and having to live on medication for the rest of my life and that because of this I now don’t see hospital consultants and hardly get to see a GP so I feel that I will be persecuted for both ESA & Pip 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 6 months ago
    'sup?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 6 months ago
    absolute disgrace the tories need kicking out asap
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 7 months ago
    I had a missed call this morning off a mobile number my number is relatively new and only a handful of people have it. I am awaiting a hearing date for tribunal could pip still decide to award me and if so could it be them that have tried ro call me?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 10 months ago
    I was awarded pip indefinitely. I just happened to mention during the assessment that I had had an assessment that morning for ‘Access to Work’. The pip assessment was more or less finished once they’d heard this. If you work you really need Access to Work in to assess what can be adjusted in your place of work to ensure you can continue to work. I had adjustments made and have continued working for five years albeit having dropped a day. Access to work really are understanding and are very helpful with understanding what adjustments need to be made that you might not have considered yourself. Good luck everyone who applies for any benefits.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Val Peaco k My mention of access to work did not help my claim for PIP. I have just been refused it.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 5 months ago
      @Val Peaco k Hi Val, do you mean that mentioning Access to Work assessment helped you to get PIP? Or did it not help? Sorry, I didn't understand (Probably due to fatigue and poor sleep). I had an ATW assessment recently , and I am about to apply for PIP. I was wondering if I should mention it or not. Thanks in advance. Jo
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 6 months ago
      @Val Peaco k Can you explain more about access to work please? Thanks
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 9 months ago
      @Val Peaco k Hello Val, can you please tell me where I would find information on Access to work. What is it and where would I go for it, would it be my employer ? 
      Tia 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 11 months ago
    I recently went to a tribunal to put my case to the court on how my fm affects me .My claim was unsuccessful as I hold down a job I am a nursery nurse and I could converse quite well and I can make my own way in the bus to my place of work.The fact that Im in constant pain and have had to have changes made in work to support me in my role did not matter.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 months ago
      @Elaine Yep Govt wants us back to work, but the DWP are working against that 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 months ago
      @Melanie Hopkins I’m going through application process at the minute and was unsuccessful at first stage because I can hold down a job too; it’s almost as if they are encouraging us to give up work and become another statistic of the unemployed!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I have fibromyalgia and was awarded standard rate for daily living and nothing for mobility. The interview for pip was awful, and I was made to feel I like I was lying. Considering the government’s initiative to get disabled people into work, it’s ironic that I was not awarded mobility rate as I work part time and am able to drive to work! That was their grounds for not awarding me mobility component. I took it upon my self to apply for a blue badge and got this. Making a claim for pip is long, difficult and causes extreme anxiety. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    You mention Fibromyalgia, but not M.E/Chronic Fatigue? Why not surely these go hand in hand? It frustrates me beyond believe that M.E doesn’t get the same recognition as Fibromyalgia. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 6 months ago
      @Judy Williamson Was shocked to see no chronic pain guide, have literally watched fibro appear out of nowhere during time i have had chronic pain from complex regional pain syndrome, an easily researched condition known for over a centruy to cause severe pain.. yet i still have to prove myself every 2 or 3 yrs with ESA and this. 
       I haven't been able to work at all since early 90s but still they make me feel like a liar. I don't eat because feeding my kids with their help is too much, i shower once a week because its too painful, but i'm okay because i can adapt.!
      Why don't people with Fibro get told they can adapt to level of energy and pain when i am told to. I got stndard care, the same as a 19 yr old with ADHD socialising with his mates every weekend and at school full time. laughable really.   
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I have fibro and anxiety,  even though  my pip review  took over a year to happen, which caused no end of stress, I was once again awarded  low rate care only. I have a blue badge because  I can't walk far, they ignored  everything,  I couldn't even be bothered to ask for a mandatory reconsideration . The whole process is awful.  I had reports from OT and a 52 page report from the top fibro guy in the country.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Debbie Hi Debbie, I have FM also. Could you share the name of the specialist who wrote the 52 page report please? Many thanks and much love, Jo x
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I failed to get mobility this time around nothing has changed if anything is worse and I have Fibro/anxiety/osteo in most joints/autism and further health issues 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    Hi all, I read everyone’s posts with 100% understanding and sadness. 
    I have a phone tribunal on 2nd November and to say I am ‘terrified’ is an understatement. 
    I fight with symptoms of fibromyalgia, anxiety and depression. For years I’ve been able to push on despite high levels of pain and fatigue along with the other delights they bring. 
    In Jan 2022 I got covid. I have gone on to develop long covid which has exacerbated all previous symptoms and given me more to deal with.
    I have since been diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis, which I now think I’ve had for years too but put everything down to fibro, post covid asthma, chronic fatigue and I now feel I may have more mental health issues and the anxiety and depression I have are due to that. The dreaded menopause is also something I’ve finally been given treatment for. 
    The whole process of pip has, and continues to be a major strain on every aspect of my being. I am incredibly close to cancelling the tribunal as I’m not sure I can go through with it. 
    The health care assessors report was littered with manipulated inaccuracies and the dwp maintain that I am not affected on the majority of the days. This couldn’t be further away from the truth. I have to plan what I have to do in order to function and am not living… I’m literally exsisting. I can’t just do anything near to normal levels or that I would have been previously been able to do. 
    The report is full of things I simply didn’t say either. 
    I have looked at the guides and started to write more things down but when I’ve looked at my application and think about the assessment…. I have said how I am struggling but it is not being and has not been accepted, I am at a loss as to what to do.
    I also struggle to say exactly as I am due to embarrassment and feeling ashamed and failed to say somethings that I should have. My stupidity but again possibly down to mental health issues and feeling pressurised to answer things I was struggling to.
    It feels very much like I’m begging for help. After having worked in the social care field all of my working life I have helped many people. I now need some help yet can’t get it. Not that it makes any difference with what job you have had I appreciate…. It feels horrendous for everyone struggling to be heard.
    Anyone who can give me some advice would be greatly appreciated and accepted. 
    Sorry for the war and peace. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 months ago
      @Sarah Paul Hi everyone my advice would be when you have your assessment weather it’s a phone call or video call or f2f tell the assessor you are recording the assessment  take a friend or family to record your assessment even if the assessor tells you they will record the assessment themselves still say I will be recording for my own evidence You have the right to record your assessment please do this you will have evidence if there are lies in the report by the assessor. And you can use the recording if it goes to tribunal. Good luck everyone.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 months ago
      @Tracey I felt I had to reply to your post as my heart went ont to you! I’m in the process of my 3rd pip application. I had been on incapacity benefit and when it changed to pip I was told I was looking after 2 children and so must be ok!! If only!! 
      Mine started when I was 19, working as an nanny/playgroup leader and for 5 yrs was made to feel crazy and couldn’t understand why I couldn’t stand yet alone walk! I finally got a diagnosis at 24 and given a very thin booklet (about 10 pages!) told I also had joint hyper joint flexi-mobility. 
      I’m now 53, trying again…… I’ve had 2 time extensions and am now sitting here trying to write. Thankfully there is some useful advice on here about cause and effect and thinking a bit more out of my anxious, depressed, tired, painful, brain fogged box!!
      Wish me luck!🍀 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I did not get PIP for mobility for Fibromyalgia which I think is a disgrace
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I have claimed the old DLA and now PIP for fibromyalgia for almost 30 years. It was always very difficult and was only ever allowed for 2 years at a time before  having to claim again. 7 times I had to go  as far as tribunal. I won all but one claim and got high rate care and mobility. The one I lost was the only time I used the Welfare Rights people to help me and that was when I found Benefits and Work. 20 years ago I developed much more severe spinal problems so claiming was then easier but it wasn't until I was about to turn 65 that I finally had PIP allowed indefinitely. The allowance for 2 years only meant I could never try to get a  motability car. They seem to think that fibromyalgia is not a lifelong condition but I sent every piece of information I could; at times 11 extra pages and 3 pages listing consultants that I'd seen. The change to PIP was very worrying but went seamlessly thanks to Benefits and work and because I then had conditions that were on their list that couldn't be argued as not being permanent.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I’ve had pip for fibromyalgia since 2017, just had my renewal assessment last week so we will see how it goes 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 years ago
      @Lianne Samme Well done you.. I now on my 4th Attempt for Fibromyalgia,  Anxiety and Depression. It's so hard to get it. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 years ago
    I have fibromyalgia and first claimed in 2021. I was awarded lower rate daily living. I then put in a change of circumstance in 2023 as it had got worse, I was awarded lower rate daily living and lower rate mobility. I put in a mandatory reconsideration and sent off all my evidence from neurology, pain management, GP and other services. I was then awarded higher rate for both. I also claim ESA and was awarded the Limited work group. I found the process challenging and it gave me anxiety as I do feel they think your lying. But I am so grateful that I was awarded what I feel I am entitled too.
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