The migration from legacy benefits to Universal Credit is due to be completed by March 2026
The Department for Work and Pensions is gradually phasing out six legacy benefits, transitioning recipients to Universal Credit through a managed migration. This process has been ongoing for the past few years, with Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits officially ceasing earlier this year.
The remaining four legacy benefits are set to end next March, with the DWP planning to dispatch thousands of Migration Notices to all affected recipients by December 2025. These notification letters will be crucial for people wishing to maintain their benefit payments during the transition.
The benefits coming to an end are:
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Housing Benefit
Migration Notices provide details on the next steps people must take to begin transferring their benefit claim to Universal Credit. Crucially, it also includes their personal deadline by which they need to apply in order to receive transitional protection.
Transitional protection ensures that those transitioning will not lose money even if they do not meet specific requirements for Universal Credit or if they would receive less under the new benefit system.
For instance, if a person was receiving £800 a month through Tax Credits, but would only qualify for £600 a month on Universal Credit, they would be granted £200 of transitional protection to receive a total of £800 per month on Universal Credit. This ensures that the migration doesn’t leave any claimants worse off.
If you overlooked your transitional protection deadline or didn’t respond to the migration letter at all, your legacy benefits will cease. However, you can still apply for Universal Credit after the deadline.
You’ll need to fulfil all the requirements for Universal Credit and submit your application through the standard claim process. You also won’t receive the transitional protection, so you might get less on Universal Credit than you did on the legacy benefit.
If there’s a valid reason why you can’t meet the deadline specified in your migration notice, you can reach out to the Universal Credit Migration Notice Helpline. They might be able to extend your claim period, but you’ll typically need to request this before the deadline.
The helpline operates from Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on 0800 169 0328. It’s crucial to remember that if you’re receiving legacy benefits, you’ll only need to take action if you receive a migration notice instructing you to claim Universal Credit or if your circumstances alter.
Further details about what to do if you receive a Migration Notice can be found on the Gov.uk website. You won’t receive transitional protection if you claim before you receive a Migration Notice.