Universal credit: Benefit cap
The benefit cap basically means that there is an upper limit on the amount of benefit that working age claimants who are out of work can receive.
What is the benefit cap?
How much is it?
What benefits count towards the cap?
How does it work with Universal Credit?
Northern Ireland
More detailed information
The cap was introduced on the total amount of benefit that working age claimants can receive, with the intention that households on out of work benefits should not receive more in benefit than the average weekly wage, after tax and national insurance.
The cap applies to all new UC claims. There is a Benefits Cap calculator available on the GOV.UK website
The current cap is:
Outside of Greater London Borough -
- Couple (with or without children) or a single parent - £423.46 a week (£1,835.00 per UC assessment period)
- Single person without children - £283.71 a week (£1,229.42 per UC assessment period)
If you live in a Greater London Borough
- Couple (with or without children) or a single parent - £486.89 a week (£2,110.25 per UC assessment period)
- Single person without children - £326.26 a week (£1,413.92 per UC assessment period)
What benefits count towards the cap?
The benefits currently taken into account in calculating the cap are:
- Bereavement Allowance;
- Child Benefit;
- Child Tax Credit;
- Employment and Support Allowance (unless you get the support component);
- Housing Benefit;
- Incapacity Benefit;
- Income Support;
- Jobseeker’s Allowance;
- Maternity Allowance;
- Severe Disablement Allowance;
- Universal Credit; and
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance (including widowed mother’s allowance and widow’s pension).
The cap does not apply if anyone in the household is receiving WTC, Guardian's Allowance or certain benefits. See the GOV.UK website for a full list of these benefits.
How does it work with Universal Credit?
The benefit cap is relevant to the final stage of calculating entitlement to UC. Firstly, the amount of excess must be calculated. This is the amount that the UC entitlement (plus any of the other benefits listed above) exceeds the benefit cap minus any amount included in the award for childcare costs. This ensures that childcare costs are protected from the cap. No reduction is applied if the childcare costs exceed the excess amount.
There are some other exceptions to the cap. The cap does not apply where:
- Net earned income (combined income if part of a couple) in a monthly assessment period is above the relevant threshold (roughly the equivalent net earnings from 16 hours per week paid at the national living wage rate).
- The claimant is within a nine-month grace period. A grace period occurs where the claimants earnings (or their combined earnings if they have a partner) from work are less than the relevant threshold but immediately before this applies their earnings were at least the relevant threshold for the preceding 12 months. A grace period also occurs where before the current period of entitlement to UC the claimant stopped work and immediately before stopping work their earnings were at or above the relevant threshold every month for the preceding 12 months.
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With effect from 8 June 2024, the benefit cap does not apply to the calculation of a UC award (including an indicative UC amount) made by a single claimant who has reached their qualifying age for state pension credit (in a joint claim, where both claimants have reached their qualifying ages for state pension credit).
Prior to 1 April 2017, the relevant threshold was a fixed amount of £430. For any assessment period beginning on or after 1 April 2017, instead of having a fixed level of net income that exempts a claimant from the cap it has been changed to be based on the monthly amount a person earns by working 16 hours a week at the national living wage – which is £793.17 a month currently ((£11.44 x 16 x 52) / 12).
The earnings threshold is set by reference to the living wage rate which applies to those aged 21 or over even if the claimant is under 21 years of age.
The cap applies in Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, welfare supplementary payments can be made in certain situations where claimants in NI are affected by the benefit cap.
For more information, see the Chapter E5 ADM guidance on GOV.UK.
Last reviewed/updated 27 June 2024