Is Healthy Start available on Universal Credit if take-home pay is over £408?

What is the £408 take-home pay rule?

The NHS apply page says you can apply online if you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have at least one child under four, your family’s monthly “take-home pay” (also called “earned income”) is £408 or less from employment, and you get Universal Credit. NHS BSA’s eligibility FAQ uses the same £408 figure. Scheme rules tell you to check that earned income is £408 or less if a claim is unsuccessful.

NHS does not publish a second, unofficial £408 figure, and this page does not invent one. The apply page’s words are “monthly take-home pay (also called earned income) … from employment”. Read the earned-income line on your Universal Credit statement rather than guessing from net pay in a banking app.

Does Healthy Start start automatically on Universal Credit?

No. You submit a Healthy Start application. NHS says the details you use must match the Universal Credit claim — name, address including postcode, National Insurance number, and children. It tells you to open your Universal Credit account and confirm the address and that every child is named and verified before you apply.

Healthy Start is also not a Tax-Free Childcare question and not a Universal Credit childcare-costs cashflow question. The £408 test is only the NHS earned-income gate for this food-and-milk card.

• One application per household — NHS says only one parent or caregiver should apply, and pregnancy applications must be in the pregnant person’s name.
• If you become pregnant later, NHS says to tell Healthy Start so the pregnancy can be added; you do not need a second application.
• NHS shares information with the benefits agencies every four weeks to re-check eligibility.

What happens if take-home pay goes over £408 after SMP or a new job?

NHS BSA KA-30137 says payments stop when your family’s total take-home pay is over £408, and also when a Universal Credit claim changes from single to joint or joint to single. It does not publish a different threshold for Statutory Maternity Pay. If SMP has started appearing on a Universal Credit statement, compare that statement’s earned income figure with the NHS £408 line — this page does not say whether a particular payment is or is not “employment” income, because NHS has not printed that breakdown.

After payments stop, two official clocks appear in different places:

• NHS scheme rules: if checks show you are no longer eligible, payments stop and you have 16 weeks to spend remaining funds before the card is closed; unspent money after that is reclaimed.
• NHS BSA KA-30137: payments can restart if you again meet the rules, your details match, you have had a first Universal Credit payment (where that FAQ applies), and it has been less than 16 weeks since payments stopped.
• Turn2us (page last reviewed 5 September 2025) still says you can continue to receive Healthy Start for eight weeks after the last Universal Credit assessment period if you are no longer eligible for Universal Credit or earn over the £408 limit. That eight-week run-on is Turn2us’s wording, not a sentence on the current NHS apply or scheme-rules pages checked on 10 September 2026.

If your qualifying benefit has changed to Universal Credit, NHS BSA says to contact Healthy Start, then apply online once children are added and verified on the Universal Credit claim and you have received a first Universal Credit payment.

How do I check the £408 figure before I apply?

1. 1
   Open the latest Universal Credit statement Find the earned-income / take-home pay from employment figure for the assessment period. NHS’s words are “£408 or less from employment”, not a figure you invent from Child Benefit or the Universal Credit award itself.
2. 2
   Match every personal detail Name, date of birth, address including postcode and National Insurance number on the Healthy Start form must match DWP. NHS says to update DWP first if anything is wrong.
3. 3
   Confirm children are named and verified NHS will not treat an unverified baby as a child on the claim. Payments for a newborn are a separate timing issue — see the after-birth verification guide.
4. 4
   Apply on the NHS route that fits Universal Credit → online at healthystart.nhs.uk. Pension Credit with the child addition → email or phone. Under 18 and not on benefits → email or phone only.

In shortUniversal Credit alone is not enough. NHS looks for a matching UC record and monthly earned income from employment of £408 or less. Above that line, NHS BSA says payments stop. Use the statement figure; do not invent a new cap.