Turn2us - to access benefits & grants.

The Turn2us Benefits Calculator is an easy-to-use, online tool that allows you to check your entitlement to welfare benefits.

The calculator:

• Estimates your entitlement to all means-tested benefits
• Indicates your eligibility to other benefits

For full details, see our list of benefits covered by the Turn2us Benefits Calculator.

The checker does not work out your entitlement to benefits if you are:

• A full time student
• Aged under 18
• Living permanently in residential care, a nursing home or hospital
• In prison
• On strike
• Not a British or Irish citizen
• A UK national who lives abroad

This is because special rules apply so the results may not be correct.

Please check groups not included in the Benefits Calculator for further details. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser who can go through your entitlement to benefits with you.

As you go through the Benefits Calculator, you may need to refer to various documents, such as wage slips, bank statements and bills. For more information, see information you will require to complete a benefits check.

The Turn2us Benefits Calculator is easy to access from any Turn2us website page. Just click the 'Benefits Search' tab at the top of the page. As you go through the calculator, it asks you a series of questions. They may:

• Have boxes next to them. If you click on the box the calculator will put a tick into the box to indicate you are saying ‘yes’ to that question.
• Offer you a range of answers to choose from using a ‘drop-down’ box. These will have a box with an arrow next to them. Click the arrow and the ‘drop-down box’ will appear giving you all the possible answers to choose from. Click on your answer and the box will disappear.
• Ask you to put in an amount of money. These will have a box with a £ sign.

Answering all these questions allows the checker to quickly build up a picture of your possible entitlement to means-tested benefits.

Yes. You’ll find clear instructions and support at every stage, including:

• How to answer questions you are being asked
• Definitions of the technical terms used
• Details of the welfare benefits mentioned.

You can often get this help by clicking words that are in bold and underlined in the text. This will take you to help pages or Turn2us website pages that give you more information.

You will need your partner’s details if you are living together as a couple. You will count as a couple whether or not you are married, or in a civil partnership.

On the first page of the calculator, you should enter that you are part of a couple and include both of your incomes, savings and hours of work.

When couples use the calculator, it assumes that the first person, referred to as “you”, will be the one to claim the benefits on behalf of the couple.

In some cases, who you put first can have an effect on the results. For example, only one out-of work benefit can be claimed per couple. So if one partner is eligible for Income Support and the other is eligible for income-related Employment and Support Allowance, you will need to decide which benefit to claim as a couple. The claim for the benefit you choose would be made by the person who is eligible. If you are part of a couple, it is worth doing more than one benefits check – do one where your details are entered first and then a separate one where your partner’s are put first. If you can choose between benefits, you should seek further advice. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local adviser.

You should make a claim for any benefits that it suggests you might be entitled to. How you do this depends on the particular benefit. See the Beginner's Guide to Benefits section on claiming benefits for more information.