Benefit cap

What is it?

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of income you can receive from certain benefits.

The amount your household gets from certain benefits may be reduced to ensure you do not receive more than the benefit cap.

How much is the benefit cap?

The amount at which your benefits will be capped depends on your circumstances. The current benefit cap levels are:

£423.46 per week (£22,000 per year) if you're in a couple, whether your children live with you or not
£423.46 per week (£22,000 per year) if you're a single parent and your children live with you
£283.71 per week (£14,750 per year) if you're single and you do not have children, or your children do not live with you

These amounts include housing costs (housing benefit and local housing allowance).

Which benefits are affected by the cap?

The benefit cap affects the combined income from all of the following benefits:

Universal Credit
Bereavement Allowance
Child Benefit
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)

The income you get from any other benefits is not taken into account for the benefit cap.

Who is affected by the cap?

The benefit cap applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not yet reached state pension.

Mixed age couples

Usually, if you have reached state pension age the benefit cap will not apply but if your partner is under state pension age then the benefit cap will apply, unless of course, you are exempt from the cap for any other reason.

Who is not affected by the cap?

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

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 £846 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
Carer Support Payment
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)
Pension Age Disability Payment
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
War pensions
War Widow’s or War Widower’s Pension