You’ll receive a letter in the post from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which will give you three months to start claiming Universal Credit before your payments are stopped
Over a quarter of a million households had their benefit payments stopped after they failed to move to Universal Credit.
Universal Credit is replacing six older legacy benefits, with the process – known as “managed migration” – being completed in stages. You’ll receive a letter in the post from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when it is your turn to change benefits – and this letter will give you a three-month window to start claiming Universal Credit.
Your existing benefits are stopped once this deadline has passed – and new Government figures show this happened to 318,834 people between July 2022 and June 2024. Some 883,944 people made successful claims for Universal Credit, while another 166,594 are still in the process of transitioning.
Universal Credit currently claimed by more than seven million people and is replacing the following benefits:
Have you had trouble claiming Universal Credit? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
The DWP wants to have everyone moved over to Universal Credit by April 2026. You can choose to move over to Universal Credit earlier – but do your research first, as you won’t be able to move back to your old benefits. The DWP claims 55% of people will be better off on Universal Credit, and 35% would be worse off.
The remaining benefit claimants will see no change. You should use one of the following free benefit calculators to get a rough idea about whether you will be better on Universal Credit:
Once you’ve used one of these calculators, always seek expert advice first before switching to Universal Credit – don’t rely on just what these calculators tell you. You can contact Citizens Advice or Turn2Us for free benefits advice. If you are moved over to Universal Credit through “managed migration” and you’ll be worse off, you will get monthly transition payments to cover any financial shortfall. You only get the transitional payments if you are moved across by the DWP through the “managed migration” process.
