Long COVID (also called post-COVID syndrome) can be severely disabling. If you have ongoing symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more after a COVID infection, and these symptoms affect your daily activities, you can claim PIP. You do not need to wait for symptoms to become permanent, you just need them to have lasted at least 3 months and be expected to last at least 9 more.
Which Activities Does Long COVID Affect?
Preparing Food (Activity 1) – Post-exertional malaise means standing to cook can trigger a crash lasting days. Brain fog makes following recipes dangerous, you forget steps, leave the hob on, or lose track of what you are doing. Fatigue means you simply cannot stand long enough to prepare a meal.
Managing Therapy (Activity 3) – Multiple medications, pacing strategies, breathing exercises, physiotherapy, fatigue management programmes, and frequent GP and specialist appointments. If brain fog means you forget medication or cannot manage appointment schedules without help, this scores.
Washing and Bathing (Activity 4) – Showering can trigger post-exertional malaise. Many people with long COVID need to sit in the shower, cannot wash their hair due to arm fatigue, or need to rest between each part of washing. If a shower leaves you bedbound for hours afterwards, that is not completing the task in a reasonable time or safely.
Communicating (Activity 7) – Brain fog affecting word finding, losing track of conversations, inability to process information. If you cannot follow a phone call or need things repeated, this scores.
Engaging with People (Activity 9) – Social exhaustion, inability to cope with stimulation, cancelling plans because of unpredictable symptoms, isolating because any activity triggers a crash.
Moving Around (Activity 12) – Breathlessness, fatigue, POTS symptoms (dizziness on standing), and exercise intolerance. How far can you walk before you need to stop? If it is under 50 metres, that scores. If any walking triggers a multi-day crash, that affects reliability.
What Evidence Helps?
- Long COVID clinic letters – if you have been referred to one
- GP records – documenting ongoing symptoms since your COVID infection
- Respiratory consultant letters – if breathlessness is a major symptom
- Cardiology letters – if you have POTS or heart involvement
- Occupational therapist reports – fatigue management, pacing programmes
- Symptom diary – tracking crashes, triggers, and what you cannot do each day
- Carer or partner statement – what support they provide
Frequently Asked Questions
My GP does not believe in long COVID. What do I do?
Request a referral to a long COVID clinic. Their assessment will carry far more weight than a sceptical GP. You can also request your medical records which will show the pattern of ongoing symptoms since your infection.
I had COVID but was never hospitalised. Can I still claim?
Yes. Most long COVID sufferers were never hospitalised. PIP is based on how your symptoms affect you now, not how severe your initial infection was.
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