The warning comes as the government works to scrap six legacy benefits completely by 2026 and these include: Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income support, Housing Benefit, and Income related Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a three month warning to hundreds of thousands of benefit claimants.
The warning comes as the government works to scrap six legacy benefits completely by 2026. These include: Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income support, Housing Benefit, and Income related Employment Support Allowance (ESA). The first legacy benefit to be axed is Tax Credits which will be closed for good in April this year.
The DWP is moving people over through its Managed Migration programme. As part of the process, households claiming legacy benefits are being sent letters called “migration notices” through the post. Once claimants receive this letter, receive their letter it’s important they act quickly.
This is because they only have three months to put in a claim for Universal Credit. If they don’t, then their current claim will be stopped. Your migration notice will detail the exact date you need to make a claim. Sir Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability, warned households not to delay in moving over. He said: “As we start the new year, families across the country are thinking about what’s next.
“With this in mind, I encourage everyone who has received a migration notice to act as quickly as possible and move onto Universal Credit. We know how quickly time can pass when you’re busy – and with just three months to go until Tax Credits close on the 5th of April – now is the time to respond to your Universal Credit migration notice to continue receiving benefits.”
The DWP aimed to send migration notices to all households claiming Tax Credits, Income Support, income-based JSA, and Housing Benefit by September 2024. Overall this is around 440,000 people. Households receiving ESA should receive a letter by December 2025. The DWP began sending migration notices to these claimants – around 800,000 in total – in September last year.
The DWP plans to contact all remaining legacy benefits claimants by December 2025. All legacy benefits are set to be scrapped for good by the end of March 2026.
