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Thousands of people receiving Employment Support Allowance (ESA) have been warned they need to take immediate action to make sure they do not miss out as they are shifted to Universal Credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says recipients, who are unable to work because of sickness and disability, will need to put in an application for Universal Credit or risk losing vital benefit payments.
The warning comes against the background of a wider change to move people across the UK from legacy benefits to the Universal Credit regime.
ESA recipients who have disabilities and health conditions often also receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a benefit for people with long-term health conditions who face extra health related costs.
Six legacy benefits are being retired by the DWP with Universal Credit taking their place as the DWP attempts a significant simplification of the benefits system.
The others being replaced are Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Child Tax Credits (CTC), Working Tax Credits (WTC, and Income Support under a major overhaul of the benefits system.
Migration notices were sent out by the DWP in September, informing ESA recipients of a three-month window in which they need to secure their application for Universal Credit.
The Government has advised recipients of legacy benefits: “Move to Universal Credit if you get a migration notice letter. As one or more of your benefits will be ending soon, you need to move to Universal Credit.
“To continue receiving financial support you must claim Universal Credit by the deadline date given in your letter. This is three months from the date the letter was sent out.”
With the festive period approaching in three months, ESA recipients will need to migrate to Universal Credit promptly if they wish to avoid any disruption during the Christmas season.
What to do if you have had a letter telling you to claim Universal Credit
Citizens Advice says that if the letter gives a deadline for you to claim Universal Credit, it’s a ‘migration notice’. The deadline should usually be at least three months after the date the notice was sent.
If your letter doesn’t have a deadline, you don’t have to claim Universal Credit unless you want to – even if the letter says you’ll have to claim Universal Credit in future. You won’t be able to go back to your old benefits after you claim. Check if you’ll be better off on Universal Credit before you claim.
If you’ve got a migration notice
You should claim Universal Credit by the deadline on the letter.
Your old benefits will stop after the deadline. If you claim Universal Credit before the deadline, the DWP might pay you extra to stop you being worse off. This is called ‘transitional protection’.
This means that if you’d get less on Universal Credit than your old benefits, you’ll get an extra amount to make up the difference. The DWP will reduce the extra amount over time – so you’ll eventually just get what you normally would on Universal Credit.
Transitional protection also means you might be able to get Universal Credit when you wouldn’t usually be entitled to it. If you:
- are a full-time student who wouldn’t usually get Universal Credit, you can usually get it until the end of your course
- get tax credits and have over £16,000 in savings or investments, you can get Universal Credit for up to a year – this is a type of transitional protection called a ‘transitional capital disregard’
- have reached State Pension age and get a migration notice, you can claim Universal Credit. Further information is available here.