The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is replacing older legacy benefits with Universal Credit in a move that impacts millions of people.
The benefits being replaced by Universal Credit are: Housing Benefit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Income Support. The DWP aims to move all people claiming these benefit to Universal Credit by March 2026.
When it is your turn to start claiming Universal Credit, you’ll receive a “migration notice” in the post – and this will give you a three-month deadline to move across. If you don’t claim Universal Credit by the end of your three-month deadline, your existing benefits will stop.
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You can choose to move over earlier, if you think you will be better off on Universal Credit – but you need to do your research first, as you can’t move back to your old benefits. You should start by using a free benefits calculator that can assess your circumstances:
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Policy in Practice calculator
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entitledto calculator
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Turn2us calculator
Don’t rely solely on these calculators though – they’re only there to give you a rough estimation. Make sure you seek advice from Citizens Advice or Turn2Us before applying for Universal Credit, as they’ll be able to talk you through exactly how your payments will change. This can include how often you’ll be paid, how payments can be reduced if you fall into debt, or any work commitments you’ll likely be required to sign up to.
The DWP claims 55% of people will be better off on Universal Credit, and 35% would be worse off. The rest will see no change. If you’ll be worse off on Universal Credit, you can get monthly transition payments which make up any shortfall – but only if you wait to be moved across through the “managed migration” process.
The transitional protection lasts until there is no difference between your new Universal Credit award and what you received before under legacy benefits. You should also note that you’ll have to wait five weeks for your first Universal Credit payment, although some legacy benefits – including Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-related ESA and income-based JSA – will “run on” for two weeks to help bridge that gap.
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