Check who can claim Universal Credit

To get Universal Credit you must be in England, Scotland or Wales when you apply.

You’ll also need to show you’re ‘habitually resident’. This means showing that your main home is the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. You’ll have to do this if you recently lived somewhere else. You have to do this even if you’re a British citizen.

Check how to prove you’re habitually resident.

If you live with your partner

If you and your partner are making a joint claim for Universal Credit you both need to be eligible.

If one of you isn’t eligible, the other person can still apply for Universal Credit. You should make a joint claim because the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) need to know about both your incomes, savings and other investments. They’ll convert your application into a single claim.

You can only get Universal Credit if your immigration status lets you claim public funds. In some situations you also need a ‘right to reside’.

You can claim public funds if you have any of the following:

• British or Irish citizenship

• settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme

• indefinite leave - unless you came to the UK on an adult dependent relative visa in the last 5 years

• refugee status or humanitarian protection

• right of abode

If you have pre-settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme, you can claim public funds - but you also need to show you have a right to reside to get Universal Credit. Check if you have a right to reside.

If you’ve applied to the EU Settlement Scheme and you’re waiting for a decision,  you can claim public funds - but you also need to show you have a right to reside to get  Universal Credit. Check if you have a right to reside.

If you have any other immigration status, check if your immigration status lets you claim public funds.

If you live with your partner

If either of you aren’t a British or Irish citizen, you’ll need to have an immigration status that lets you claim public funds. You might need a right to reside as well.

To be paid as a couple, you both need to be eligible. If one of you isn’t eligible, the other person can get paid Universal Credit as a single person.

You’ll usually need to make a joint claim for Universal Credit, even if only one of you is eligible. This is because the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) need to know about both your incomes, savings and other investments. They’ll convert your application into a single claim. If the ineligible person has an immigration status that doesn't let them claim public funds, talk to an adviser to check that you can claim Universal Credit.

You might be able to claim Universal Credit if you meet all the other conditions and also one of these:

• you can’t work because you’re disabled or ill - you’ll need to give the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) medical evidence showing this

• you’re responsible for a child

• you’re pregnant and expecting to give birth in the next 11 weeks

• you gave birth in the last 15 weeks, even if you’re not responsible for the child

• you care for someone who gets certain disability benefits

• your parents have died or you can't live with them - for example if your relationship has broken down or your health would be at risk

If you live with your partner

You and your partner might be able to make a joint claim for Universal Credit if either:

• you're both aged 16 or 17, and you're both covered by an exception in the list above

• one of you is aged 18 or over, and the other person is aged 16 or 17 and covered by an exception in the list above

If one of you isn’t eligible, the other person can still apply for Universal Credit. You should make a joint claim because the DWP need to know about both your incomes, savings and other investments. They’ll convert your application into a single claim.

You can check your State Pension age on GOV.UK.

If you've reached State Pension age and don't live with a partner

You can’t get Universal Credit if you’ve reached State Pension age and don’t live with a partner. You might be able to get other benefits depending on your situation. Check what benefits you can get - use the section ‘If you’re over State Pension age’.

If you live with a partner and you've both reached State Pension age

You can't get Universal Credit. You might be able to get other benefits, but it will depend on your situation. Check what benefits you can get - use the section ‘If you’re over State Pension age’.

If you live with a partner and only one of you has reached State Pension age

If you live together and only one of you is State Pension age, you'll usually claim Universal Credit.

Some couples can claim Pension Credit or Housing Benefit instead. You might be able to get both. It's important to check if you can get these benefits, as you might be better off.

To get Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, both of the following must apply:

• one of you reached State Pension age before 15 May 2019

• you’ve been claiming pension-age Housing Benefit or Pension Credit as part of the same couple since before 15 May 2019

There’s also another exception that means you might get Pension Credit or Housing Benefit as an individual. This applies if you’re the older partner and your younger partner isn’t eligible for Universal Credit because of one of a few specific reasons - for example because of their immigration status or because they're in prison.

Check if the younger partner's immigration status lets them get benefits.

If either of you is getting Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, you can keep getting it unless you get a migration notice. If you aren't already getting Pension Credit, you can make a new claim for Pension Credit. If you pay rent you should also check if you can claim Housing Benefit.

There’s another exception that means you won’t have to apply for Universal Credit instead. This applies if the person who hasn’t reached State Pension age is getting:

• Income Support

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

The person who hasn’t reached State Pension age can keep getting their benefit - and either of you can keep getting Housing Benefit. All of these benefits will end if you get a migration notice.

If your circumstances change your benefit might end. If you're sent a migration notice, the benefit you're getting will end and you'll need to claim Universal Credit instead.

If you’re in education or training you can’t usually get Universal Credit - but there are exceptions.

Check if you’re in education or training

You count as being in education or training if either:

• you’re in full-time higher education - this includes anything above A level

• you’re doing any full-time course where you get a loan or maintenance grant

• you’re doing any full-time or part-time course that stops you from doing your work-related requirements - check your work-related requirements

You also count as being in education or training until 31 August after your 19th birthday, if you do at least 12 hours of study a week for school, college or on certain types of training course.

If this applies to you, you will not count as being in education if you’re doing the training course as part of your job. You also will not count if you’ve been referred to the training course by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), or it lasts less than 6 months.

If you’re studying but you’re not in any of the situations above, you won’t count as being in education or training. You should be able to get Universal Credit.

Exceptions that let you get Universal Credit while you’re in education

You can still get Universal Credit if at least one of the following applies: 

• you’ve reached State Pension age and you live with a partner who’s below State Pension age - check your State Pension age on GOV.UK

• your parents have died or you can’t live with them, and you aren’t in higher education - you must be under 21 years old, or be 21 years olf if you reached this age during your course

• you took time off because you were ill or had caring responsibilities, but you're now waiting to return to the course

• you get Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance, Child Disability Payment, or Pension Age Disability Payment - and the DWP decided you have ‘limited capability for work’ before you started your course

• you look after a child aged under 16 years old

• you look after a ‘qualifying young person’ - someone counts as a qualifying young person until 31 August after their 19th birthday, if they’re in non-advanced education, for example school or college

• you’re a foster parent and have a child living with you

If you live with your partner

You can get Universal Credit while you’re in education if you live with your partner and one of the following applies to them:

• they’re not in education or training

• they’re in education or training, but they’re entitled to Universal Credit while they study

• they’re in education or training, and one of you is responsible for a child or qualifying young person, or is a foster parent

If you’ve had a migration notice 

If you’ve had a migration notice telling you to move to Universal Credit from other benefits, you can get Universal Credit while you’re in education. You can usually get Universal Credit until your course ends.