Cap Brought In On Benefit Claims

Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans for a maximum limit on the amount of benefits one family can claim.  He told the Conservative conference the cap would be set at the amount "the average family gets for going out to work", which is about £26,000 a year.  The cap will apply to the combined income from benefits including things like jobseekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit.  An estimated 50,000 households may be affected by the cap, planned for 2013.  Local authorities will administer the new cap by assessing the total benefit income of new and existing housing benefit claimants. They will then reduce the claimant’s housing benefit so that it makes up the difference between the amount a family claims and the cap.  The Treasury estimates families will lose an average of £93 a week. Read more on the BBC website.