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The government’s new “four-point rule” for PIP is quietly redefining disability — and excluding those who need help most.

They say the devil is in the detail — and when it comes to the UK government’s disability benefit reforms, that detail is called the “four-point rule.”

You won’t see headlines about it.

But it could take support away from half of all disabled people on PIP, including those who need daily help to wash, dress, prepare food, and use the toilet.

This isn’t speculation.

It’s the warning issued by Citizens Advice in their Pathways to Poverty report — and backed up by real-world examples from their advisers across the country.

So what is the four-point rule?

The new gatekeeper for support

Under the current rules, claimants qualify for the PIP daily living component by scoring eight points or more across a range of 10 daily tasks — including eating, managing hygiene, preparing meals, and communicating.

The government now proposes a new test: to get any support, you must score at least four points in one single activity. That means people who currently score 2 or 3 points in multiple areas — reflecting a real but varied set of needs — would be excluded entirely.

As Citizens Advice puts it:

“Someone who needs assistance to cut up food, wash their hair and body below the waist, use the toilet, and dress/undress their lower body wouldn’t receive PIP under the new rules.”

It’s not just a few fringe cases.

This is likely to hit around 1.3 million current PIP claimants — nearly half of all those receiving the daily living component.

Arbitrary and unevidenced

There’s no medical justification for the four-point threshold.

It’s not based on research or public consultation.

It’s a savings-driven change introduced quietly in the Pathways to Work Green Paper without formal consultation — despite affecting more people than almost any other single benefit reform in recent memory.

By setting the bar at four points in one area, the government is effectively redefining disability — not based on lived reality or clinical need, but on bureaucratic neatness.

It punishes people with complex or multi-faceted disabilities — those who may not have one severe difficulty but face significant cumulative barriers across multiple aspects of life.

Who will be hit hardest?

According to Citizens Advice, those most at risk include:

• Women and older people, who are more likely to live with chronic, degenerative conditions.

• People with arthritis, back pain, MS, epilepsy, cancer, and other physical impairments that don’t cluster neatly in one area.

• People already working — who use PIP to cover costs that help them stay in employment.

The irony is staggering: PIP is being cut for people who may be working, parenting, and managing serious health conditions — not because they’ve become less disabled, but because their disability doesn’t fit a spreadsheet model.

The human cost

The policy makes invisible those who live with pain, fatigue, and shame that doesn’t always reach a convenient threshold on any single line of a DWP form.

And while ministers claim these reforms will help more people work, Citizens Advice says the effect will be the opposite: many will be pushed into poverty, isolation, and worsening health.

Let’s not forget: PIP isn’t an out-of-work benefit.

Many recipients use it to fund transport, specialist diets, adapted housing, or personal care.

Removing it strips away those supports, with knock-on effects across employment, housing, and health.

Why this must be stopped

The four-point rule is a technical change with devastating impact — one that bypasses public debate, parliamentary scrutiny, and common sense.

It deserves to be front and centre in the national conversation.

Right now, it’s buried. But with more scrutiny, it could become a scandal.

Here’s what you can do

The government is redefining who “counts” as disabled — and they’re doing it by numbers, not needs.

If Labour follows through on this plan, they’ll be complicit in one of the most regressive welfare changes in modern history.

It’s time to pull back the curtain — and pull the plug on the four-point rule. So:

• 📢 Write to your MP: Find them on TheyWorkForYou.com Ask them to demand a full consultation on the PIP eligibility changes proposed in the Pathways to Work Green Paper. Ask them to oppose the four-point rule.

• 🖊️ Sign and share relevant petitions (e.g. on Change.org or Parliament.uk once launched). Look for those targeting the PIP reforms or calling for proper scrutiny.

• 📣 Share your story (or someone else’s): If you or someone you know would be affected by the 4-point rule, share it on social media or with organisations like Disability Rights UK, Z2K, or Citizens Advice.

• 📧 Contact disability rights groups and local press. Push for this issue to get coverage. The more public pressure, the harder it is to ignore.

• 🗳️ Pressure Labour now: If the incoming Labour government plans to continue these reforms, they must be made to answer for it — before implementation, not after.

Don’t let “just a number on a form” take away life-changing support. Spread the word. Force the conversation. Stop the 4-point rule.

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