Free check · 2026/27 rules

Will your savings stop or cut your benefits?

Enter what you have and which benefits you get. We'll tell you if you're over a limit, the exact amount your savings count as, what's ignored, and how much less you'd get a month.

  • Universal CreditSavings over £6,000 count as £4.35 a month for each £250. Over £16,000 stops it.
  • Pension CreditNo upper limit. Over £10,000, each £500 counts as £1 a week.
  • Housing Benefit and Council Tax ReductionA £16,000 limit, unless you get Guarantee Credit of Pension Credit.
  • PIP, Child Benefit, New Style JSA and ESASavings don't affect them.
About you
Who's claiming?
State Pension ageFor a couple, think about both of you.
Your benefits
Means-tested benefits you get or want to claimSavings can affect these.
Other benefitsTick them and we'll confirm whether savings matter.
If you get Pension Credit, which part?
Your savings

For a couple, add both of yours together. Leave anything you don't have blank.

Property, pensions, children's money, back payments and compensation
Optional

Free. No sign-up, no email. We don't store your answers.

How the check works

We add up what counts for each benefit and apply that benefit's own rule. Couples' savings are added together. Your home, personal possessions and a pension pot you haven't drawn are ignored. Shares and a second property count at their value less 10% for the cost of selling (less any mortgage on that property). Back payments of benefits are ignored for 52 weeks (12 months for Universal Credit, a year for Pension Credit), and so is personal injury compensation, which Pension Credit ignores with no time limit.

Every figure is the 2026/27 rule from the regulations and GOV.UK, checked on 26 October 2026. It's an independent check, not an official decision.

Sources: GOV.UK: Universal Credit eligibility; Universal Credit Regulations 2013, reg 72 (£4.35 a month for each £250 over £6,000); GOV.UK: Pension Credit eligibility; State Pension Credit Regulations 2002, reg 15(6) (£1 a week for each £500 over £10,000); GOV.UK: Housing Benefit eligibility; Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, reg 52 (tariff income £1 a week per £250 over £6,000); GOV.UK: Apply for Council Tax Reduction; Universal Credit Regulations 2013, Schedule 10 (capital disregarded)

Written and reviewed by James Whitfield and the editorial team.

Every figure is checked against current GOV.UK guidance and reviewed for the 2026/27 tax year. We explain the numbers in plain English with worked examples. Editorial standards · About us