Millions of people claiming legacy benefits could see their payments stopped if they miss an important deadline.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has this week re-started its “migration process” of moving people on old-style benefits over to Universal Credit.
Some 500 people are being invited to claim Universal Credit from May 9, with a deadline of having everyone transferred 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.
In an update posted yesterday the DWP said: "This letter will inform you that your existing benefits or tax credits will be ending, and the date you must claim Universal Credit by."
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.
Everyone will be migrated over eventually - but you can also choose to transfer over sooner if you think you'd be better off.
Have you received a letter telling you to move over to Universal Credit? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
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.
See more information below about how many people will get more money on Universal Credit.
We've also got a guide here on how to check if you'll be better off on the new system.
There are around 2.6million people still claiming legacy benefits in the UK.
This includes tax credits, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Housing Benefit.
The phasing out of these benefits had temporarily been paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Which benefits are being phased out?
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
Some 1.2million people claim ESA while a further 1million claim Tax Credits.
The rest of the people on legacy are 200,000 are on Income Support and 100,000 on each of Housing Benefit and JSA.
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.
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.
But there have been warnings that these transitional payments could effectively amount to a benefits freeze for poorer Brits.
This is because as Universal Credit rises over time in line with inflation, the transitional protection will reduce until the benefit catches up with what they're being paid.
