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 amount your household gets from some housing benefit or universal credit might be reduced to make sure you do not get more than the ‘cap limit’.
Full Answer
How much is the benefit cap?
How much is the Benefit Cap? £442.31 per week (£1,916.67 per month or £23,000 per year) for couples and lone parents in Greater London £384.62 per week (£ 1,666,67 per month or £20,000 per year) for couples and lone parents outside Greater London
What is the Housing Benefit Cap in the UK?
From Autumn 2016 it was reduced to £20,000, except in London where it was reduced to £23,000. The benefit cap was announced in the October 2010 Spending Review by the Coalition Government and was made law by the Welfare Reform Act 2012, The Benefit Cap (Housing Benefit) Regulations 2012 and The Universal Credit Regulations 2013.
When did the benefit cap come into effect?
The benefit cap was announced in the October 2010 Spending Review by the Coalition Government and was made law by the Welfare Reform Act 2012, The Benefit Cap (Housing Benefit) Regulations 2012 and The Universal Credit Regulations 2013. It began roll out in April 2013 and was fully implemented by September 2013.
Who is not affected by the benefit cap?
You might not be affected by the benefit cap if you get certain benefits or you’re over State Pension age. If you’re claiming Universal Credit the benefit cap might not start for 9 months, depending on your earnings.
What does it mean to be benefit capped?
The Benefit Cap is a limit to the total amount of money you can get from benefits. If your benefits would add up to more than the limit, your Housing Benefit will be reduced.
What is benefit cap in Universal Credit?
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 are the effects of the benefit cap?
A maximum amount of benefits each year In 2013 the Government introduced the benefit cap. It said that the cap would: encourage people into work. restore "fairness" to the benefit system, by ensuring a non-working family does not receive more in benefits than a working family gets from going to work.
How can I avoid the benefit cap?
If you are claiming Housing Benefit and you are getting Working Tax Credit, you are exempt from the Benefit Cap. You are also exempt if you have an open claim for Working Tax Credit and meet the qualification requirements, but are not receiving payment because your income is too high.
What is the maximum Universal Credit for a single person?
Standard allowanceYour circumstancesMonthly standard allowanceSingle and under 25£265.31Single and 25 or over£334.91In a couple and you're both under 25£416.45 (for you both)In a couple and either of you are 25 or over£525.72 (for you both)
How much can I earn before I lose my Universal Credit?
Your work allowance is £344. This means you can earn £344 without any money being deducted. For every £1 of the remaining £156 you get, 55p is taken from your Universal Credit payment....The work allowance.Your circumstancesMonthly work allowanceYou do not get help with housing costs£5731 more row
How much is the benefit cap 2022?
Benefit capAnnual level of benefit cap (Greater London)Rates 2021 to 2022 (£)Rates 2022 to 2023 (£)Couples (with or without children) or single claimants with a child of qualifying age23,000.0023,000.00Single adult households without children15,410.0015,410.00Apr 11, 2022
Is the benefit cap ending?
21 January 2021 This exemption lasts nine months, and the Government has confirmed that they will not be extending this nine-month 'grace period'.
Benefits affected by the cap
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...
When you're not affected
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...
When the benefit cap affects your Universal Credit payments
The benefit cap might not affect your Universal Credit payments for up to 9 months. This is called the ‘grace period’. You’ll get the grace period...
Help if you're affected by the benefit cap
Contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you’re affected by the benefit cap and you need help. If you need help paying your rent or a...
Benefit cap amounts
The amount you get through the benefit cap depends on whether: you live inside or outside Greater London you’re single or in a couple your children...
Overview
The benefit cap is a British Coalition government policy that limits the amount in state benefits that an individual household can claim per year. The benefit cap was introduced in 2013 at £26,000 per year (£500 per week) which was the average family income in the UK. For single people with no children it was set at £18,200 per year (£350 per week). The level of the benefit cap was subsequently lowered following an announcement in the July 2015 United Kingdom budget. Fro…
Positions of political parties
The Conservative Party supported the benefit cap which was announced by George Osborne at the 2010 Conservative Party conference.
Labour Party leader Harriet Harman ordered Labour MPs to abstain during the House of Commons vote on the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 which reduced the benefit cap. Forty-eight of them rebelled and voted against the bill, including the future Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. Prev…
Public opinion
Opinion polling showed strong support for the benefit cap. A poll carried out in July 2013 showed that 73% supported the policy and only 12% opposed the policy.
Impact
Concern was expressed that the 2016 reduction in the cap would seriously increase poverty and homelessness among affected families and would affect over 300,000 children. Research by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) indicated that the number of families affected would be higher than the government expected and warned that continuing the policy would make Theresa May’s promise of a “society fairer for families” harder to achieve. Terrie Alafat of the CIH feared t…
Legal challenges
The benefit cap has been the subject of a number of legal challenges.
The first attempt at a test case of the benefit cap was made in 2013 during the policy's pilot in four London boroughs. Permission was given for a judicial review of the policy on behalf of a number of families, two of the claims involving victims of domestic abuse. Papers submitted to the court suggested that these two families would have to choose between "risking losing their …
Reaction
Writing about the benefit cap in 2013, George Eaton argued in the New Statesman magazine that "the cap is less a serious act of policy than a political weapon designed to trap Labour on the wrong side of the argument". Eaton cited a YouGov poll published earlier that year, which found that 79% of people, including 71% of Labour voters, supported the benefit cap, while 12% opposed it. In the same year The Guardian newspaper argued that, because the benefit cap applied regardl…
See also
• Poverty in the United Kingdom
• United Kingdom government austerity programme
External links
• UK Government's benefit cap page
• Benefit cap