The cap levels for 2026/27
The monthly benefit cap in 2026/27 is £1,835.00 outside London for families and £2,110.25 inside London for families, which is £22,020 and £25,323 a year. Single adults without children face lower caps: £1,229.42 a month outside London and £1,413.92 inside London. The cap applies to the household, not per person. For a couple, the couple cap applies regardless of whether one or both are claiming.
Which benefits count toward the cap
Most working-age benefits count toward the cap: Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit, Maternity Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and others. Some benefits are excluded from the cap calculation, including Disability Living Allowance, PIP and the UC LCWRA element (which instead triggers an exemption from the cap entirely).
Who is exempt from the cap
You are exempt from the Benefit Cap if you or your partner receives PIP, DLA, LCWRA, ESA support group (or the equivalent UC element), Carer's Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, War Widow's Pension, or certain other disability-related payments. On Universal Credit, the cap does not apply if you and your partner earn £881 a month or more between you after tax and National Insurance. Check your situation carefully; many families who appear to be capped are actually exempt.
How the deduction works in UC
If the cap applies, the excess above the cap level is deducted from your Universal Credit. If your total benefit income is £2,200 per month and the cap is £1,835, UC is reduced by £365 per month. If UC is less than the excess, the deduction can reduce UC to zero. You would then receive other benefits at their normal rate but no UC.
Moving into work to lift the cap
Earning £881 a month or more between you, after tax and National Insurance, lifts the benefit cap (that is 16 hours a week at the National Living Wage). If you earned at least that in each of the 12 months before your earnings dropped, a 9-month grace period also applies. The cap is designed as a work incentive: once earnings reach a sufficient level, the cap no longer applies and total income (benefits plus earnings) is not constrained.