The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed the full list of 70 neurological conditions that can qualify for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), with successful claimants able to receive up to £778.40 every four weeks.
Neurological disease is one of the five biggest disabling-condition categories recorded by the DWP, accounting for 9% of PIP assessments over the five years to April 2026. The latest figures show that new PIP claims recorded under neurological disease had an assessment award rate of 56%, while the rate for DLA reassessments was 8%.
Conditions and eligibility
Having one of the conditions listed by the DWP does not automatically mean someone will qualify for PIP. The department assesses how a condition affects a person's ability to carry out everyday activities and move around, with the main disabling condition recorded during the assessment process. Where someone has several conditions, all can be taken into account, although only the primary condition is recorded in the statistics.
The neurological category covers a wide range of conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. The DWP says its full database contains 536 individual disabling conditions, which are grouped into 178 sub-groups and 21 broader categories. A DWP-derived breakdown identifies 70 conditions and sub-categories within the neurological group.
Payment rates and components
For those who qualify, the amount received depends on the severity of difficulties experienced rather than the diagnosis alone. PIP has two components: daily living and mobility. For 2026/27, the standard daily living rate is £76.70 a week and the enhanced rate is £114.60. The standard mobility rate is £30.30, while the enhanced rate is £80 a week.
Someone awarded both components at the enhanced rate would receive £194.60 a week, equivalent to £778.40 every four weeks, or £10,119.20 over a full year. PIP is tax-free and not affected by income or savings. Each component can be awarded at the enhanced rate, standard rate or not at all, depending on points scored against assessment criteria.
Claim duration and full list
Neurological disease claims can result in longer-lasting awards. Among new claimants awarded PIP over the five years to April 2026, 13% of those with neurological disease as their main condition received ongoing awards. For DLA reassessment claims in the same category, 34% received ongoing awards.
The list includes cerebrovascular accident (stroke), other cerebrovascular disease, transient ischaemic attack (TIA), cataplexy, generalised seizures with status epilepticus, narcolepsy, partial seizures, non-epileptic attack disorder, drop attacks, Stokes-Adams attacks, other types of syncope, blepharospasm, benign essential tremor, Huntington's disease, other movement disorders, Parkinson's disease, parkinsonism, torticollis, Tourette's syndrome, writer's cramp, multiple sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, other benign tumours, hydrocephalus, dizziness where the cause is not specified, other headaches where the cause is unknown, migraine, cognitive and sensorimotor impairment following head injury, traumatic paraplegia, spinal cord compression, syringomyelia or syringobulbia, traumatic tetraplegia, other degenerative neuronal diseases, motor neurone disease, ataxic cerebral palsy, athetoid cerebral palsy, diplegic cerebral palsy, hemiplegic cerebral palsy, quadriplegic cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy where the type is not known, spina bifida, ataxia, Friedrich's ataxia, other ataxias, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, diabetic neuropathy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, other neuropathies, brachial plexus injuries, other peripheral nerve injuries, dermatomyositis, dystrophia myotonica, other muscle diseases, myasthenia gravis, polymyositis, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, other muscular dystrophies, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, other infections of the nervous system, poliomyelitis and post-polio syndrome, and other prion diseases.
The presence of a condition on the list does not guarantee payment. The DWP's own figures make clear that the assessment focuses on the impact of the condition on the claimant's ability to function, with the final award and amount depending on the points achieved for daily living and mobility needs.
