- If you are assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), Universal Credit adds a health element on top of your standard allowance.1
- £429.80 a month if you have a severe condition that is unlikely to change, or you are nearing the end of life.1
- £217.26 a month if your condition is assessed as less severe or may improve. This is the rate for most new claims from 6 April 2026.1
- Different rules apply if you reported your health condition before 6 April 2026, and many people in that group keep the £429.80 rate.1
Why there are now two rates
Until April 2026 there was a single LCWRA amount. The Universal Credit Act 2025 cut the amount for new claims to £217.26 a month and froze it, while raising the standard allowance. The higher £429.80 rate was kept for people with the most severe, lifelong conditions, for people nearing the end of life, and as protection for many people who were already getting the element or had reported a health condition before the change.
This matters because the two amounts are £212.54 a month apart, about £2,550 a year. If you have been placed on the lower rate and think you meet the severe conditions criteria or were already in the system before 6 April 2026, ask DWP to check, and challenge the decision if needed.
How you get the health element
You report your health condition to Universal Credit and send fit notes from your GP or hospital. DWP then asks you to complete a health questionnaire (the UC50) and usually to attend a Work Capability Assessment.
The health element is not paid straight away. There is normally a waiting period of about three months from when you reported your condition and gave a fit note, and the element starts from the assessment period after that. If you are nearing the end of life, there is no wait and no full assessment; ask your doctor or nurse for an SR1 form.
If the assessment finds you have limited capability for work but not for work-related activity (LCW), there is no extra money for new claims, although you will not have to look for work. People whose UC claim began before 3 April 2017 may still get the old LCW element.
Worked example: single person aged 25 or over, no earnings
Here is how the health element changes a basic Universal Credit award in 2026/27, before housing costs, savings or other income are taken into account.
| Standard allowance, single, 25+ | £424.90 |
| Health element, new-claim rate | £217.26 |
| Monthly total (new-claim rate) | £642.16 |
| Monthly total if on the £429.80 rate | £854.70 |
Rent support, child elements and a carer element are added on top where they apply. Earnings, other income and savings above £6,000 then reduce the award.
Other things the health element unlocks
A household with the health element gets a work allowance: the first £427 a month of take-home pay is ignored if you get help with housing costs in UC, or £710 a month if you do not. Only earnings above that are reduced by the 55% taper.
Households with the health element are also exempt from the benefit cap, and you will not be asked to look for or prepare for work.
If you also care for someone, you cannot get both the health element and the carer element for yourself; Universal Credit pays the health element. A partner who is the carer can still get the carer element of £209.34 a month.
The health element and PIP are separate
The UC health element depends on whether you can work. PIP depends on how your condition affects daily living and getting around. They use different assessments, and getting one does not mean you get the other, so it is worth claiming both if both may apply.
PIP is not means-tested and does not reduce Universal Credit. Someone on the £217.26 health element who is also awarded standard daily living PIP receives £76.70 a week from PIP on top of their UC.
Not claiming PIP? Check what else you could claim — £1.99
