Benefit Cap

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit you can get. It applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not reached State Pension age.

How much you receive may go down if the total amount you are entitled to is greater than the benefit cap. 

You are not affected by the cap if you or your partner work, and either of the following apply:

  • you or your partner are eligible for Working Tax Credit
  • you or your partner get Universal Credit, and your household income is more than £430 a month after tax and National Insurance

You can find more information on this from our Frequently Asked Questions below. 

The total amount of benefit you received will be capped at:

  • £423.46 per week (£1,835 per month) if you’re in a couple, whether your children live with you or not
  • 423.46 per week (£1,835 per month) if you’re single and your children live with you
  • £283.71 per week (£1,229.42 per month) if you’re single and you don’t have children, or your children don’t live with you

You can use the Government's Benefit Cap Calculator to work out how much benefit you will receive by clicking here. 

The cap applies to the total amount of benefits received in your household (you, your partner and any children living with you) from the following benefits:

  • Universal Credit
  • Bereavement Allowance
  • Child Benefit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Housing Benefit
  • Incapacity Benefit
  • Income Support
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Maternity Allowance
  • Severe Disablement Allowance
  • Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widow’s Pension if you started getting it before 9 April 2001)

You’re not affected by the cap if you’re over State Pension age. If you’re part of a couple and one of you is under State Pension age, the cap may apply.

You’re not affected by the cap if you or your partner:

  • get Working Tax Credit(even if the amount you get is £0)
  • get Universal Credit because of a disability or health condition that stops you from working (this is called ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’)
  • get Universal Credit because you care for someone with a disability
  • get Universal Credit and you and your partner earn £722 or more a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions

You’re also not affected by the cap if you, your partner or any children under 18 living with you gets:

  • Adult Disability Payment (ADP)
  • Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Child Disability Payment
  • Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the support component)
  • Guardian’s Allowance
  • Industrial Injuries Benefits (and equivalent payments as part of a War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme)
  • Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  • War pensions
  • War Widow’s or War Widower’s Pension

If you are affected, the benefit cap might not start for 9 months - depending on your earnings.

When the benefit cap affects your Universal Credit payments

The benefit cap might not affect your Universal Credit payments for up to 9 months. This is called the ‘grace period’.

You’ll get the grace period if all of the following are true:

  • you’re claiming Universal Credit because you stopped working or your earnings went down
  • you’re now earning less than £722 a month
  • in each of the 12 months before your earnings went down or you stopped working, you earned the same as or more than the earnings threshold (this was £658 up to 10 April 2023 and is £722 from 12 April 2023)

Your partner’s earnings will be included when working out how much you earned even if they’re not claiming benefits. If you have separated from your partner, their earnings will be included for the time that you lived with them before you separated.

You need to report your last 12 months’ earnings when you apply for Universal Credit to get the grace period.

You will not be affected by the benefit cap if you or your partner get Universal Credit because you have a disability or health condition or because you care for someone with a disability or you earn £722 or more between you.

How the 9 month grace period works

If you’re already claiming Universal Credit, the grace period will start on the first day of the assessment period in which your earnings went below the earnings threshold. The threshold was £658 up to 10 April 2022 and is £722 from 11 April 2022.

If you’re making a new claim for Universal Credit, the grace period starts from either:

  • the day after the last day you worked
  • the payday when your earnings went below the earnings threshold (this was £658 up to 10 April 2023 and is £722 from 11 April 2023)

The 9 month grace period continues if you stop claiming Universal Credit and then start again. After the 9 month grace period ends, the amount of Universal Credit you get will usually go down. It might not go down if your circumstances change and you are not affected by the benefit cap.