Benefits
Find the details of organisations that can carry out benefits checks to ensure that you are claiming all of the financial support which you’re entitled to.
Contact a Family
Contact a Family can provide information on benefits and other sources of financial help. You can call the free Contact a Family helpline and the staff can carry out a full benefits check for you.
Tel: 0808 808 3555
Opening hours: 9.30am-5pm, Monday-Friday
Universal Credit – What you’ll get
Universal Credit is paid monthly. How much you get depends on:
- your standard allowance
- any extra amounts that apply to you
- any money taken off your payment
- if you’re working, how much you earn.
See how much you could get by visiting the Universal Credit website.
Disability Living Allowance
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children may help with the extra costs of looking after a child who:
- is under 16
- has difficulties walking or needs much more looking after than a child of the same age who does not have a disability.
Further information is available on the Gov.UK website.
Entitledto
Entitledto can help people determine what they can claim from national and local government via their self-serve calculators. This includes information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work.
To access the service please visit the Entitledto website.
Turn2us
Turn2us can help you work out your entitlement to income-related benefits, Universal Credit and tax credits.
To access the online benefits calculator visit the Turn2us website.
Well Child
Further helpful information about financial help you may be entitled to is on the Well Child website.
Benefit Cap
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 between 16-64 years of age.
The amount your household gets from some benefits might go down to make sure you do not get more than the cap limit. The benefit cap affects:
- Bereavement Allowance
- Child Benefit
- Child Tax Credit
- Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Incapacity Benefit
- Income Support
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widow’s Pension if you started getting it before 9 April 2001)
- Universal Credit.
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 live with you (if you’re single).
If you’re in a couple but you do not live together, you’ll get the amounts for a single person.
Use the benefit cap calculator to find out how much your benefit might be capped.
Visit the Government website to see current rates of benefits both within London and outside of London.
When you are 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 apply.
You’re not affected by the cap if you or your partner get:
- Working Tax Credit (even if the amount you get is £0)
- Universal Credit because of a disability or health condition that stops you from working (this is called ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’)
- Universal Credit because you care for someone with a disability
- Universal Credit and you and your partner earn more than £569 a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions.
You’re also not affected by the cap if you, your partner or any children under 18 living with you gets:
- Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the support component)
- Guardian’s Allowance
- Industrial Injuries Benefits (and equivalent payments as part of a War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- War pensions
- War Widow’s or War Widower’s Pension.
This information is covered by the Open Government Licence
