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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.

The benefit cap affects:

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

You might not be affected by the benefit cap if you get certain benefits or you鈥檙e over State Pension age.

If you鈥檙e claiming Universal Credit the benefit cap might not start for 9 months, depending on your earnings.

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

You鈥檙e not affected by the cap if you or your partner:

• get Working Tax Credit (even if the amount you get is 拢0)
• get Universal Credit because of a disability or health condition that stops you from working (this is called 鈥榣imited capability for work and work-related activity鈥�)
• get Universal Credit because you care for someone with a disability
• get Universal Credit and you and your partner earn 拢846 or more a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions

You鈥檙e 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鈥檚 Allowance
• Carer Support Payment
• Child Disability Payment
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the support component)
• Guardian鈥檚 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鈥檚 or War Widower鈥檚 Pension

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

The benefit cap might not affect your Universal Credit payments for up to 9 months. This is called the 鈥榞race period鈥�.

You鈥檒l get the grace period if all of the following are true:

• you鈥檙e claiming Universal Credit because you stopped working or your earnings went down
• you鈥檙e now earning less than 拢846 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 拢793 up to 31 March 2025 and is 拢846 from 1 April 2025)

Your partner鈥檚 earnings will be included when working out how much you earned even if they鈥檙e 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鈥� earnings when you apply for Universal Credit to get the grace period.

How the 9-month grace period works

If you鈥檙e 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 拢793 up to 31 March 2025 and is 拢846 from 1 April 2025.

If you鈥檙e 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 拢793 up to 31 March 2025 and is 拢846 from 1 April 2025)

The 9-month grace period continues if you stop claiming Universal Credit and then start again.

Example

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.

Contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you鈥檙e affected by the benefit cap and you need help.

If you need help paying your rent or a rent deposit, contact your local council as well. They can check if you鈥檙e eligible for a discretionary housing payment, which is not affected by the benefit cap.

If you get Universal Credit

Contact DWP either:

• through the journal in your online account
• by calling the Universal Credit helpline

If you get any other benefits

The amount you get through the benefit cap depends on whether:

• you live inside or outside
• you鈥檙e single or in a couple
• your children live with you (if you鈥檙e single)

If you鈥檙e in a couple but you do not live together, you鈥檒l get the amounts for a single person.

Benefit cap outside Greater London

Benefit cap inside Greater London