Benefit cap checker
The benefit cap limits the total working-age household benefits to £486.98/week inside Greater London or £423.46/week outside, with higher rates for couples and single parents. Most exemptions apply instantly — this checker tells you whether the cap affects you and by how much.
The 2026/27 caps at a glance
- Inside Greater London: £486.98/week (couples, single parents) — £326.29/week (single, no children).
- Rest of UK: £423.46/week (couples, single parents) — £283.71/week (single, no children).
- Earnings exemption: £881/month net earned income removes the cap immediately.
- 9-month grace period after losing a job you'd earned enough in for 12 months running.
- Disability and carer benefits exempt you: PIP, DLA, AA, ADP, CDP, PADP, UC LCWRA element, Carer's Allowance / Carer Support Payment / UC carer element, IIDB, support-group ESA, War Widow's, Guardian's.
How we calculate this
The calculator runs through the benefit cap rules in a fixed order. The arithmetic is simple; the hard part is matching your household to the right row.
Step 1 — pick the weekly cap
The cap depends on two things: whether you live inside Greater London, and whether you are a couple / single parent (“family” cap) or a single adult with no children (“single” cap).
| Household | Inside Greater London | Rest of the UK |
|---|---|---|
| Couple, or single parent with dependent children | £486.98/week | £423.46/week |
| Single adult, no dependent children | £326.29/week | £283.71/week |
“Inside Greater London” means one of the 32 London boroughs or the City of London. Check your council's address on gov.uk if you are not sure.
Step 2 — convert to an annual and monthly cap
DWP publishes rounded annual and monthly equivalents as well as weekly caps. In pence we use:
- London family: £25,323/year, £2,110.25/month
- London single: £16,967/year, £1,413.92/month
- Rest of Great Britain family: £22,020/year, £1,835/month
- Rest of Great Britain single: £14,753/year, £1,229.42/month
Step 3 — check exemptions (any one removes the cap)
- UC Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element in the household.
- Anyone in the household on PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, ADP, CDP, or Pension Age Disability Payment.
- Carer's Allowance, Carer Support Payment, or the UC carer element in the household.
- War Widow's Pension or Guardian's Allowance.
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
- Support-group ESA.
- Household earned income at or above £881/month (the UC earnings-exemption threshold) — we check the combined claimant and partner earnings.
- The 9-month grace period after losing a job, if you had earned at least £881/month for each of the 12 months running up to the claim.
Step 4 — if no exemption, compare total capped benefits to the monthly cap
We add up the household's monthly total of capped benefits (the pre-cap UC entitlement plus any other capped benefits) and compare to the monthly cap from Step 2. If the total is higher, the difference is how much is taken off UC (or, on legacy benefits, off Housing Benefit).
Amount over cap = max(0, total capped benefits − monthly cap)
Source: gov.uk benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027. This calculator models the cap mechanics only — the DWP's own calculation in a live claim uses your actual pre-cap UC award calculated under the full UC rules. Use our UC estimator for a pre-cap UC figure to feed in here.
If the cap applies
The cap is taken off your UC — or, on legacy benefits, off your Housing Benefit. Options to consider:
- Work extra hours to clear the £881/month earnings threshold (even one month does the job for that month).
- Check for a qualifying disability or carer benefit you might not have claimed — see our triage.
- Apply to your council for a Discretionary Housing Payment to cover the shortfall on rent — especially if the cap would lead to arrears.
- Use a free debt / welfare-rights service (Citizens Advice, StepChange) to map out the full picture before any change.
For more on UC itself, see the UC estimator.