PIP activity 5: Managing toilet needs or incontinence
Managing toilet needs or incontinence is activity 5 of the 12 PIP activities, and counts towards the daily living component. Getting on and off the toilet, evacuating bladder and bowel, and cleaning afterwards. Here’s what it covers, the descriptors and the points each one scores, and what assessors look for.
What this activity looks at
Whether you can get on and off the toilet, empty your bladder and bowel, and clean yourself afterwards. It also covers managing incontinence.
It doesn’t cover: Getting to the toilet, managing your clothes, and climbing stairs.
Descriptors and points
The assessor picks the one descriptor that best fits you on most days. Only the highest-scoring descriptor that applies counts; points aren’t added up within an activity.
| Descriptor | What it means | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 5A | I can manage toilet needs or incontinence unaided | 0 |
| 5B | I need an aid or appliance (e.g. raised seat, pads, stoma bag) | 2 |
| 5C | I need supervision or prompting for toilet needs | 2 |
| 5D | I need assistance to manage toilet needs | 4 |
| 5E | I need assistance to manage incontinence of bladder OR bowel | 6 |
| 5F | I need assistance to manage incontinence of both bladder AND bowel | 8 |
What the assessor takes into account
- If you have an indwelling catheter or a stoma, you’re treated as incontinent for this activity.
- You can manage incontinence yourself with pads (5B) even if you haven’t asked a doctor for help with it.
- You don’t need a formal diagnosis, but what you describe needs to be consistent with your other evidence.
How to describe this on your form
- Describe your worst days, not your best or average days. A descriptor applies if it’s true on more than half of days, and that includes conditions that vary or come in flare-ups.
- An activity only counts as something you can do if you can do it safely, repeatedly, to an acceptable standard, and in a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as someone without your condition). If any of these isn’t true on most days, say so and explain why.
- Be specific. Give distances, how long things take, how often problems happen, and examples of things that have gone wrong.
- Name any help you need using the words the DWP uses: supervision, prompting, assistance, or aids and appliances. “My partner helps me” is too vague; say what they do and why.
- Describe what your condition stops you doing, not just its name. Assessors score how your condition affects you, not the diagnosis.
- Avoid phrases like “I manage”, “I cope”, “I try my best” or “I sometimes have difficulty”. They suggest you can do the activity, and can cost you points.
How points turn into an award
Your points from activities 1 to 10 are added together for the daily living component.
- 8 to 11 points: standard rate, £73.90 a week
- 12 points or more: enhanced rate, £110.40 a week
2026/27 rates. Estimate your points across all 12 activities.
Try it free: free PIP sample answer
Choose “Managing toilet needs or incontinence”, describe your difficulty in your own words, and see a sample answer written the way assessors score it.
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