Most benefits are included in the cap. If you receive more than £384.62 a week (or £442.31 a week if you live in London) in total from the benefits listed below then the benefit cap could affect you. You will not be affected if you belong to a group of people that are exempt from the cap. Always check to see if you could be exempt from the cap.

The cap will apply to the total amount you receive from:

• Child benefit
• Child tax credit
• Income support
• Jobseeker’s allowance
• Employment and support allowance – only if you are in the ‘work related activity’ group
• Housing benefit
• Maternity allowance
• Bereavement allowance
• Incapacity benefit
• Severe disablement allowance
• Widowed mother’s allowance
• Widowed parent’s allowance
• Widow’s pension
• Universal credit (unless you receive the limited capacity for work and work-related activity element)

What isn’t included in the cap?

Child maintenance payments aren’t included in the cap.

Additionally, not all benefits are included in the cap. When adding up your benefits do not include the following:

• State pension credit
• State retirement pension
• Statutory adoption pay, statutory maternity pay and statutory paternity pay
• Statutory sick pay
• Council tax reduction
• Social fund payments
• Discretionary housing payments
• Bereavement payment
• Non-cash benefits such as free school meals.

Who is exempt from the cap?

You will be exempt from the cap if any of these scenarios apply to you:

1. You don’t claim housing benefit or universal credit.

2. You work and are entitled to working tax credits.

3. You work 16 hours a week or more but don’t get working tax credits because you have a higher income.

4. You claim universal credit but work and earn £617 or more per month.

5. You are a carer or guardian and receive benefits such as:

• Carer’s Allowance
• Carer’s element of universal credit
• Guardian’s allowance

6. You have both limited capacity for work and work related activity.

7. You receive a war pension, industrial injuries benefit (or equivalent payments made as part of a war disablement pension or the Armed Forces Compensations scheme.

8. You are over state pension credit age.

9. You claim certain disability or sickness benefits such as:

• The support component of employment and support allowance
• Industrial injuries benefit
• Attendance allowance

10. It also won’t apply to you if either you claim, or your dependent child receives:

• Disability living allowance
• Personal independence payment

Carers Allowance and Guardians Allowance

A new exemption now applies to people receiving carer’s allowance, guardian’s allowance or the carer’s element of universal credit. If you receive any of these benefits, you will be exempt from the benefit cap. See the gov.uk website for more information about which benefits are included in the cap.

You can also use the government’s online calculator.

If you have recently been in work

In some situations the benefit cap won’t apply to you for 39 weeks after you have finished working. The 39 weeks starts to run from the date you finished work, not the date you make a claim for benefits.

• You must have worked for 50 out of the previous 52 weeks before finishing work
• It must have been paid work (not volunteering)
• You can’t have been entitled to income support, jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance.

If you were on maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, or claiming statutory sick pay that is counted as being in work.

Examples of how the benefit cap works

Example 1

Rakesh has three children and lives in a privately rented house in London. He has twins aged two, and a five year old. At the moment Rakesh receives the following weekly benefits:

Because Rakesh is receiving over £442.31 a week in benefits, and none of the exemptions apply to him, the new benefit cap will apply. The amount of benefit he receives will reduce from his previous benefit cap of £500 to £442.31 a week. As he receives £149.41 a week more than the £442.31 limit, his housing benefit will be reduced by £149.41 a week. This means he will now have a shortfall of £149.41 towards his rent.

Example 2

Avril has six children and lives in a housing association home in Darlington. Avril’s husband died a year ago so she receives widowed parent’s allowance. Her benefit calculation before the cap is applied would be:

Because Avril is receiving over £384.62 a week in benefits, and none of the exemptions apply to her, the benefit cap will apply.

Yet for Avril the amount of benefit she receives will not reduce down to £384.62 in her case, because the majority of her benefit income is not from housing benefit.

Only housing benefit can be reduced by the benefit cap, so Avril can avoid the maximum reduction. This is because her other benefits cannot be reduced by the cap.

Avril still has a shortfall of £99.50 a week as a result of the benefit cap.