More than two million people who still claim legacy benefits are being moved over to Universal Credit - but will you be better off on the new system?
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has this week restarted its so-called “migration” process of transferring those on older benefits over to Universal Credit.
Some 500 people are being invited to move over from May 9 as part of the switchover, which had been temporarily paused due to the coronavirus crisis.
There are around 2.6million people still claiming legacy benefits in the UK and the Government wants everyone to be switched over to Universal Credit by December 2024.
When it is your turn to move over, you will receive a “migration notice” in the post which will give you a three-month deadline to claim Universal Credit.
If you don't start a claim for Universal Credit within this time, your current benefits will automatically stop after this deadline.
Use our Turn2Us benefits calculator to see if you'll be better off claiming Universal Credit:
Will I be better off on Universal Credit?
The DWP claims 1.4million people (55%) will be better off on Universal Credit, and 900,000 (35%) would be worse off.
The other 300,000 benefit claimants will see no change.
Some people may be moved across to Universal Credit early if they see a change in circumstances - for example, if they move home or change their working hours.
Have you been told you're being moved over to Universal Credit? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
You can also choose to transfer over before the December 2024 deadline, or before you get your "migration notice", if you think you'd be better off.
But you need to do your research first before moving over to Universal Credit by choice, as you can't go back to legacy benefits once you've made the switch.
The Mirror has worked with Turn2Us to feature the quick and easy benefits calculator above.
To get the most accurate figure as possible, you'll need to enter information about your living situation, your employment and income, your savings, your health and all the benefits you receive right now.
The calculator will then bring up what it thinks you should get on Universal Credit, so you can compare this against what you receive now.
You should note that this will only give you general guidance as to whether you'll get more money on Universal Credit.
You will still need to seek expert advice first from Turn2Us or other benefits specialists before making the move.
Tom Cave, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at national poverty charity,Turn2Us, said: “While we recognise the need to eventually move legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit, we're deeply concerned about the risk to claimants, due to the onus being put on them to make a claim or have their benefits stopped.
“Many claimants may be able to do this themselves without any trouble, but for the most vulnerable claimant's, including people with mental health problems, this could risk them losing their income overnight.
“The DWP must look again at how it can properly migrate people's legacy benefit claims to Universal Credit, without putting them at risk.
“This includes putting in place proper safeguarding protections and allowing for a full trial and evaluation of the process before restarting in earnest."
What happens after I switch to Universal Credit?
Universal Credit is replacing the following six benefits:
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Income Support
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Housing Benefit
Once you make a Universal Credit claim, your old benefits will be stopped and you'll have to wait five weeks for your first Universal Credit payment to arrive.
Some legacy benefits - including Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance - will "run on" for two weeks to help bridge that gap.
Tax credits payments will stop as soon as you claim Universal Credit.
If you are moved over to Universal Credit through managed migration, and you'll be worse off, you will get monthly transition payments which are designed to make cover the shortfall of payments.
The transitional protection lasts until there is no difference between the amount awarded under Universal Credit and what you received before under legacy benefits.
