The short answer
A passporting benefit gets you through the income part of the means test without any arithmetic. In practice that now means Universal Credit or the guarantee credit part of Pension Credit. Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance were abolished in April 2026 and no longer passport anyone. Whatever benefit you are on, your capital is still assessed.
Key points
- Passporting covers income only. Capital is assessed in every case.
- Income Support and income-based JSA were abolished on 1 April 2026.
- Income-related ESA ended on 1 July 2026 apart from a small protected group.
- Much of the published guidance is out of date on this, including the Legal Aid Agency’s own current eligibility card.
- Not being on a benefit does not mean you fail. It just means the figures get worked out.
The figures
Benefits that get you through the income test
If you are properly receiving one of these, you pass the income part of the means test automatically. The list is shorter than it was, because two of the benefits on it no longer exist.
| Benefit | Position now |
|---|---|
| Universal Credit | Passports you |
| Pension Credit, the guarantee credit part | Passports you |
| Income-related Employment and Support Allowance | Ended on 1 July 2026, except for people who need an appointee and certain vulnerable claimants |
| Income Support | Abolished on 1 April 2026 |
| Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance | Abolished on 1 April 2026 |
A passporting benefit gets you through the income test only. Your savings and capital are assessed in every case, whatever benefit you are on.
The regulation still lists five benefits, but Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance were abolished by SI 2025/1148 and income-related ESA by SI 2026/409, as people moved across to Universal Credit. Underlying rule: regulation 6(2). Checked 5 August 2026.
Why the list got shorter
Nothing changed in legal aid law. The regulation that lists passporting benefits has not been amended and still names five of them.
What changed is the benefits themselves. Universal Credit has been replacing the older working-age benefits for years, and that process reached the ones that mattered here. Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance were abolished on 1 April 2026. Income-related Employment and Support Allowance ended on 1 July 2026, except for claimants who need an appointee and certain vulnerable claimants who were protected.
So the regulation still lists benefits that no longer exist. Nobody can be receiving them, so nobody can be passported by them.
Important information
If you are reading guidance elsewhere that lists five passporting benefits including Income Support and income-based JSA, it is out of date. That includes some official documents, which have not caught up with the benefit changes.
It does not mean you have been assessed wrongly. It means a list you may be checking yourself against is describing benefits that have been abolished.
What passporting does not do
It does not get you past the capital test. This is the single most misunderstood point on the subject, and it catches people who are on Universal Credit and have savings, or equity in a house.
It also does not decide whether your case is in scope. Someone on Universal Credit with an ordinary financial dispute and no abuse still cannot get a solicitor funded, because scope is a different question from money.
And it does not apply to the £500 mediation voucher, which has no financial test at all, so no passporting is needed.
The figures
The capital limit, and the extra allowance if you are 60 or over
The disposable capital limit is £8,000 for every kind of civil legal aid except immigration representation. Being on a benefit does not get you past it. Capital is assessed in every case.
If you are 60 or over and your monthly disposable income, ignoring anything your savings earn, is under £315, some of your capital is ignored on a sliding scale.
| Monthly disposable income | Capital ignored |
|---|---|
| On a passporting benefit, or up to £25 | £100,000 |
| £26 to £50 | £90,000 |
| £51 to £75 | £80,000 |
| £76 to £100 | £70,000 |
| £101 to £125 | £60,000 |
| £126 to £150 | £50,000 |
| £151 to £175 | £40,000 |
| £176 to £200 | £30,000 |
| £201 to £225 | £20,000 |
| £226 to £315 | £10,000 |
| Over £315 | Nothing |
Source: regulation 41 of the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013, and keycard 62 for the £8,000 limit. Checked 5 August 2026.
If you are not on any of these
You are in the ordinary position, and the assessment simply works through your figures instead. Plenty of people who receive no benefits at all are financially eligible, particularly with a partner and children to allow for.
Work through the means test rather than assuming.