Care and support

Going into hospital

These pages tell you what happens to your benefits when you go into hospital. If you are receiving any benefits it is your responsibility to notify the relevant department that pays you about any stays in hospital so that the rules described below can be applied. Failure to notify this change in your circumstances can lead to overpayment of benefit.

New rules were introduced in April 2006 which may affect the amount of benefit you are entitled to. During a stay in hospital some social security benefits are reduced or stopped (this could happen after 4 weeks, 12 weeks or 52 weeks - see the table at the end of this leaflet for details). For attendance allowance (AA) and disability living allowance (DLA), stays in hospital that are less than 28 days apart are linked together to decide when the reduction of benefit should start. The day you go in and the day you come out of hospital both count as days at home.

If you are a patient detained under s45A or s47 of the Mental Health Act you are not entitled to benefit.

Civil Partnership Act

In December 2005, the Civil Partnership Act came into force. This means that couples of the same sex who register their partnership will be treated for benefit purposes as if they were married. Same-sex couples who do not register will also be treated as couples for all means-tested benefits, such as income support, pension credit, income-based jobseeker's allowance and housing and council tax benefit. Therefore, any references to husband, wives, spouses and partners in these pages will apply to same-sex couples.