Hospital and benefits - Benefits you will get if you go into hospital

If you get the following benefits, the amount you get for yourself will not change if you go into hospital.  You will carry on getting the benefit, but if you get any extra money in the benefit for another person, for example for a child or your partner this will usually stop after you have been in hospital for 52 weeks:

• Incapacity Benefit
• Basic State Pension
• New State Pension
• Widow's Pension
• Widowed Parent's Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Benefit
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Maternity Allowance
• Statutory Sick Pay.

If you get contributory Employment and Support Allowance, it will be paid in full while you are in hospital. Although the amount of time you can claim it for will be limited to 365 days.

If you get contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance, it will stop when you are sick and not able to look for work for more than two weeks. You should get advice to see if you can get another benefit instead, for example, Employment and Support Allowance.

Updated: April 2018