Editorial policy
These are the rules we work to. They are not aspirations — most of them are enforced by the software that builds this site.
Every figure comes from a source
No amount, rate, threshold, age limit or date is written into a page by hand. Each one is stored as a separate record with the official page it came from and the date we checked it, and the page pulls it in when it is displayed.
That means a figure cannot drift away from its source through an edit, and when a source changes we can find every page that used it.
If we have not checked it, we do not print it
A figure that has not been confirmed against its official source is not published, even as an approximation. You will instead see a note saying we have not confirmed it yet, and a link to the official page.
The same rule applies to our calculators: a tool that is missing a confirmed rate refuses to calculate rather than produce a number that looks authoritative and is wrong. A wrong estimate can stop someone claiming something they are entitled to.
How we use AI
We use AI to help draft and structure explanations. It is a writing tool, not a source. Specifically:
- AI is never the source of a number. Drafts are checked automatically for figures that do not trace back to a stored source, and those drafts are rejected.
- AI output is checked for claims that are not supported by the sources we hold.
- Nothing about benefits, tax, disability, health, immigration or legal rights is published without a person reading it first.
- We do not use AI to imitate anyone's writing, and we do not rewrite other websites' articles.
How we research
We read official guidance and the published rules of the bodies that run each scheme. We also look at what other websites cover, to understand what people are asking — but their text never enters our drafts, and every page is checked for similarity against the sources we hold before it is published.
We say when we are unsure
Where the rules are genuinely unclear, or where an outcome depends on a decision we cannot predict, we say so. Our eligibility guidance gives three answers — likely, possibly and unlikely — rather than pretending to a certainty the rules do not support.
Estimated figures are always marked as estimated and never presented as measured facts.
Corrections
When we find or are told about an error, we correct the page and, where the error could have affected a decision someone made, we note the change on our latest changes page.
We do not quietly delete pages that turn out to be wrong.