8. Savings and other capital

There are limits on the amount of savings and other capital you can have and still claim benefit. These limits are described below. Some kinds of capital are not counted in the assessment. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers).

You cannot get income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or housing benefit (HB) if your savings or other capital are above £16,000.

If your capital is £6,000 or less, it does not affect your benefit at all.

If your capital is between £6,000.01 and £16,000, you are treated as though you have income from this capital of £1 a week for every £250 or part of £250 between these limits. This is referred to as ‘tariff income’. For example, if you have savings of £6,525, your tariff income is £3 a week.

These limits are different if you or your partner are over pension age. All your capital is ignored if you or your partner get pension credit guarantee credit. Otherwise, tariff income of £1 for each £500 or part of £500 between £10,000.01 and £16,000 is taken into account in the assessment of HB.