Moving to Universal Credit from other benefits

Universal Credit is replacing 6 benefits called ‘legacy benefits’. These are: 

• Housing Benefit

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• Child Tax Credits (CTC) 

• Working Tax Credits (WTC)

• Income Support

You can’t usually make a new claim for these benefits. 

Most people who get legacy benefits are being moved onto Universal Credit. If you get one of these legacy benefits you’ll have to move onto Universal Credit when:

• you get a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) telling you to claim Universal Credit by a certain date - this is a 'migration notice'

• your situation changes in certain ways - for example if you’ve separated from a partner or moved to a different council area

If you’ve had a letter telling you to claim Universal Credit

What you have to do depends on what’s in the letter.

If the letter gives a deadline for you to claim Universal Credit, it’s a ‘migration notice’. The deadline should usually be at least 3 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

If you’re told your tax credits are ending and you’re over State Pension age

If you’ve reached State Pension age and get Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit, you might get a ‘tax credit closure notice’. This is a letter from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or the DWP telling you that your tax credits will end. The letter isn't a migration notice - it won't say you need to move onto Universal Credit.

You might be able to apply for Pension Credit instead if you’re not already getting it. Check if you can get Pension Credit.

If you can’t claim by the migration deadline

If the deadline hasn’t passed yet, you can ask the DWP to extend it. You can only ask for this before the original deadline in the letter. If the DWP agree, they’ll send you a new deadline.

If the deadline has passed, you can still get transitional protection if you claim Universal Credit up to a month after the deadline. The end of the month is called the ‘final deadline’.

If you claim after the final deadline, you can still claim Universal Credit - but you can’t get the transitional protection.

If you need help moving on to Universal Credit, you can talk to an adviser.

Claiming Universal Credit

If you claim Universal Credit, you'll usually get one payment each month, although you can ask to be paid more often. You usually have to manage your claim online.

It will usually take 5 weeks to get your first Universal Credit payment - but it could take longer. 

Your old benefits might stop before your Universal Credit starts. When they stop depends on which benefits you get, and when you claim Universal Credit.

If you claim before the deadline from the DWP:

• tax credits stop the day before you claim Universal Credit

• Housing Benefit, income-based JSA, income-related ESA and Income Support stop 2 weeks after you claim Universal Credit

If you claim Universal Credit after the deadline from the DWP:

• tax credits stop the day before the deadline from the DWP

• Housing Benefit, income-based JSA, income-related ESA and Income Support stop 2 weeks after the deadline from the DWP

You’ll only get the extra 2 week payments if you’re still eligible for the benefit. You won’t need to pay back the extra payments and they won’t affect how much Universal Credit you’ll get.

If you won’t have enough money to live on while you wait for your first Universal Credit payment, you can ask for an advance payment. The advance payment is a loan - you’ll have to pay it back.

If your situation changes

If you haven’t had a migration notice, you might still be better off claiming Universal Credit if your work, home or family situation changes. Some changes will end your benefit claim - so claiming Universal Credit might be the only way to replace them.

You can’t usually claim Universal Credit if you, and your partner if you have one, have both reached State Pension age. It’s usually best for you to claim Pension Credit.

Check if you can get Pension Credit rather than Universal Credit. If you need help with housing costs, you can also claim Housing Benefit.

You can't usually make a new claim for Pension Credit or Housing Benefit if you’re over State Pension age but have a partner under State Pension age. You can only make a new claim for Pension Credit or Housing Benefit if both the following apply:

• you or your partner reached State Pension age before 15 May 2019

• you’ve been claiming Housing Benefit or Pension Credit as part of the same couple since before 15 May 2019

If you’re in this situation and get tax credits, you might get a migration notice telling you to apply for Universal Credit. If you’re in this situation you can talk to an adviser.

If you got a severe disability premium (SDP)

You might get an extra amount in your Universal Credit. This is called the ‘SDP transitional element’. 

You’ll get the SDP transitional element if you apply for Universal Credit within a month after you stop getting the benefit with the SDP.

You can’t get the SDP transitional element if either:

• the only benefit you got the SDP with was Housing Benefit

• you move in with a partner who is claiming Universal Credit

If you also got a disability premium with your benefit

You can get an extra amount on top of your transitional element if you got the SDP and one of the following with your benefit:

• a disability premium

• an enhanced disability premium

• a child disability premium or disabled child element

If you applied for Universal Credit before 14 February 2024, you wouldn't have got this extra amount. You’ll get a back payment, but the DWP haven’t decided when this will happen yet. We'll update our advice when the DWP have announced how they'll send the payments.

If you get the SDP transitional element, the DWP will reduce it over time - so eventually you’ll just get what you normally would on Universal Credit.

If you applied before 27 January 2021

You couldn’t claim Universal Credit if you were getting, or recently stopped getting, a benefit with an SDP. If you applied for Universal Credit before 27 January 2021, talk to an adviser to check what you’re entitled to.

Report a change of circumstances 

You should report a change of circumstances as soon as you can - even if you can stay on your old benefits. You might be paid too much or too little if you report it later.

If you don’t report a change and you’re paid too much, you’ll need to pay the money back and you might have to pay some extra money as a penalty.

If you’re getting Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits, you need to tell HMRC about the change on GOV.UK.

If you're getting Best Start Foods or the Scottish Child Payment, you need to tell Social Security Scotland about the change on mygov.scot. 

If you’re getting other benefits, you can check how to report the change of circumstances on GOV.UK.

If you haven’t had a migration notice or change of circumstances

You can still move to Universal Credit - but it’s important to check if you’ll be better off. If you apply for Universal Credit:

• any other legacy benefits you're getting will end

• you won't be able to go back to any of the legacy benefits in the future - even if you’re appealing a benefit decision

If you have a choice between staying on your old benefits and claiming Universal Credit, talk to an adviser. They can help you work out how much you’d get on Universal Credit.

You can also use a benefit calculator to check how much Universal Credit you’d get. To get an accurate answer, you’ll need to know details about your:

• income - including any earnings or benefits 

• rent and living costs 

• savings and investments - called 'capital'

Claiming Universal Credit

If you claim Universal Credit, you'll usually get one payment each month, although you can ask to be paid more often. You usually have to manage your claim online.

It will usually take 5 weeks to get your first Universal Credit payment - but it could take longer. 

If your old benefits haven't ended, you can keep getting them for 2 weeks after you apply for Universal Credit. You won't need to pay back the extra payments and they won't affect how much Universal Credit you'll get. This applies to:

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance

• Income Support

• Housing Benefit

You’ll only get the extra 2 week payments if you’re still eligible for the benefit. You won’t need to pay back the extra payments and they won’t affect how much Universal Credit you’ll get. 

If you won’t have enough money to live on while you wait for your first Universal Credit payment, you can ask for an advance payment. The advance payment is a loan - you’ll have to pay it back.

If you need help moving on to Universal Credit, you can talk to an adviser.