Income that does not come from earnings is defined as ‘unearned income’ in the universal credit regulations. However, we simply refer to it in this chapter as ‘income’. Some types of income are taken fully into account in the universal credit calculation, other types are disregarded. We list which types of income are taken into account and which are disregarded in 10 to 15 below.

The income that is taken fully into account reduces your universal credit £1-for-£1 (eg an income of £15 will reduce your universal credit by £15).

The universal credit regulations specifically list those items of income that are to be taken into account in the calculation; if they are not listed, they will be disregarded and so will not affect the amount of universal credit you receive.

In some cases, you can be treated as possessing income that you do not actually have – this is called ‘notional income’ (see 16 below).

Your partner’s income – If you are one of a couple (se