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Benefit cap

What is the Benefit cap?

The benefit cap limits the total amount of money someone can receive from all their benefits added together. If the total amount of benefit you and your partner receive is more than the allowed rate, then your benefit will be reduced to that rate. The allowed rates are:

  • £283.71 per week for single people without children
  • £423.46 per week for single parents, and couples with or without children

Any reduction in your benefits which is needed to bring you to the cap limit will be deducted from your Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance or Universal Credit.

When you're not affected by the cap

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 £793 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
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
  • Attendance Allowance
  • Carer's Allowance
  • Carer Support Payment
  • Child Disability Payment
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the suppot 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
  • War Pensions
  • War Widow's or War Widower's Pension

You can use the Benefit Cap Calculator to find out if you could be affected.

For more information about the benefit cap changes please visit www.Gov.UK/benefit-cap