If you're going into an NHS hospital or a care home, your benefits may be affected. You must tell the relevant benefit office about any changes in your circumstances. 

There are special rules for people who are nearing the end of life.

Visit gov.uk/benefits-end-of-life for more information, or call our Helpline to speak to an adviser.

Going into hospital

You must tell the relevant benefit office when you go into an NHS hospital and when you come out. If you don’t report a hospital stay of one night or longer, you may be overpaid your benefits and you'll have to pay back any money you owe. You may also have to pay a civil penalty. Your State Pension will not be affected.

A stay in hospital affects your benefits in the following ways:

Disability benefits

If you stay in hospital for 28 days or more, you should stop receiving these benefits. When you go into and leave hospital, contact the relevant helpline:

If you're discharged but go back into hospital within 28 days, the days spent in hospital will be added together – if the total is more than 28 days, you’ll no longer qualify for those benefits until you return home. The day after you enter hospital is counted as day one. The day before you leave a hospital is the last day. These rules are different if you get PIP – the day you leave hospital will count as your last day if you go straight into a care home. You'll still be paid for the days you spend at home between hospital stays.

If you have a Motability agreement for a car, scooter or electric wheelchair before entering hospital, contact the Motability Scheme. They'll discuss appropriate arrangements with you about your lease, depending on your individual circumstances. Call the Motability helpline on 0300 456 4566.

Carer’s Allowance

If you receive Carer's Allowance (CA) for caring for someone else and you go into hospital, it will stop after 12 weeks. You must tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit – you can call them on 0800 731 0297. It may stop sooner if you've been in hospital or had a break from your caring role in the past six months.

If someone receives CA for looking after you, it will stop after you've been in hospital for 28 days (when your disability benefit stops). They will have to make another claim for Carer's Allowance once you are out of hospital, which can be backdated for up to three months.

Council Tax/Local Government Support

Council Tax/Local Government Support is paid by your local council, so you'll need to check the conditions of entitlement with them.

Housing Benefit

You can continue to get Housing Benefit while you're in hospital for up to a year, as long as your property hasn’t been let or sublet during that time. This may be extended, but only in exceptional circumstances. You will still need to report a change in your circumstances to your local council, though. The amount of Housing Benefit you receive may be affected when AA, DLA care component or PIP daily living component (or ADP daily living component in Scotland) stop after 28 days.

If you are in a hospital abroad, different rules apply. Call our free Helpline to book an appointment with one of our advisors, if this affects you.

Pension Credit

Pension Credit is paid for an indefinite period, as long as other conditions of entitlement are still met. Some additions and allowances may be affected, such as Severe Disability Addition, Carer’s Addition and Pension Credit housing costs, depending how long you're in hospital for. This may affect the amount of Pension Credit you're entitled to, so you may get less money from it. Contact the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469.

You can contact our Helpline on 0800 319 6789 for advice. For more information, see our factsheet Hospital stays.

Winter Fuel Payment

If you have been in hospital for more than a year, you will not be able to get Winter Fuel Payment. You will have to contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160 to report a change.

Going into a care home

If you move into a care home – whether your stay is temporary or permanent – you should tell the relevant benefit office. What happens to your benefit payments depends on your circumstances and which benefit(s) you claim.

Disability benefits

If you go into a care home, your disability benefits (AA, DLA or PIP/ADP) may carry on or stop, depending on who pays your fees.

Your benefits will continue if you:

  • pay your own fees, or
  • have entered into a deferred payments arrangement with your council (where your care costs are covered and then claimed back later, so you can delay selling your home)

Your benefits will stop after the first 28 days if:

The mobility component of your PIP/ADP or DLA will continue if you're in a care home, but it stops if you're in a nursing home.

Carer’s Allowance

CA will stop if the person you're caring for moves into a care home and their disability benefits stop. If their benefits continue and you're still regularly providing care for more than 35 hours a week, your allowance may continue. You may have to make another claim if the benefits of the person you care for stop, and then restart again. You should contact the Carer's Allowance Unit as soon as the person you care for moves into a care home.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support

If you move into a care home permanently, you will no longer receive Housing Benefit. You’ll need to tell the Housing department of your local council, who pay your benefit. There are some exceptions to this rule, so contact our free Helpline if you think this will affect you.

Contact your local council about any help you're getting with Council Tax. You can find contact details for your local council on Gov.uk.

Pension Credit

If you live in a care home, your entitlement to Pension Credit is calculated in the same way as if you lived at home. The first £10,000 of your savings and capital will be ignored.

If you’re living in a care home and receive Savings Credit, the local council should apply a savings disregard during the financial assessment. This is worth up to £6.50 a week for a single person and £9.75 for couples.

If you are part of a couple and your partner lives in a care home, the Pension Service may stop counting you as a couple. You will need to report any change of circumstance to the Pension Service (0800 731 0469), so they can change their calculations for how much money you will get.

Also of interest

Also in this section

Next steps

For more information, see the government’s page on reporting a change to your circumstances.

This can be a complex area, and you may want to get advice. You can call our Helpline to arrange to speak to an adviser about your situation.

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