Where both members of a couple are entitled to jobseeker's allowance or pre‑retirement allowance, the total payable to them shall not exceed the amount payable if only one of them were entitled (including any increases); each member is entitled to one‑half of that amount (including any increases). For the purposes of this section, references to “jobseeker's allowance” include pre‑retirement allowance.

“Relevant benefit or pension” is defined to include illness benefit, jobseeker's benefit (including self‑employed), injury benefit, disablement pension, State pension (contributory), State pension (non‑contributory), State pension (transition) and invalidity pension. If one partner receives a relevant benefit or pension and the other receives jobseeker's allowance, their combined payment must not exceed the greater of the single‑person totals; any excess reduces the jobseeker's allowance. Where one partner receives a jobseeker's pay‑related benefit and the other jobseeker's allowance, the combined amount must not be less than the jobseeker's allowance payable to a single recipient; paragraph (c) does not apply where other means are assessed. “Couple” means married couples living together, civil partners living together or cohabitants, and “spouse”, “civil partner” and “cohabitant” are reciprocal references.