You can claim benefits whilst volunteering. The benefits regulations make it clear that you can volunteer for as many hours as you wish. If you are claiming jobseeker’s allowance, you simply need to be available for training, interviews or job applications, however, you can also demonstrate that your volunteering is helping you to gain valuable experience! Getting your expenses does not count as payment and so will also not affect your benefits. The rules are the same for those claiming Income Support, as long as they are not receiving any money apart from their expenses. For those claiming Incapacity Benefit, there used to be a rule that individuals in receipt of the benefit could only volunteer for 16 hours a week, but as with any other benefits, you are free to volunteer for as long as you wish. Disability Living Allowance acknowledges that life for someone with a disability may be more expensive - volunteering does not affect whether an individual receives this benefit or not.