Four changes coming to Universal Credit to be aware of

Four key changes are about to come into place affecting Universal Credit payments. Claimants will want to keep updated with the latest changes, to ensure they don't lose any cash and are getting the full benefit they're entitled to.

Universal Credit is claimed by roughly 5.6million people in the UK. It is slowly replacing the following old-style benefits: Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Working Tax Credit.

A managed migration system to move everyone on legacy benefits over to Universal Credit restarted in May this year, following a brief pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. From adjustments to how some people receive their payments, to extra money coming your way next month, with help from the Mirror we explain everything you need to know.

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Changes to when you start paying National Insurance (NI) come into force from July 6. The threshold for when you start to pay NI will rise from £9,880 to £12,570 - this means you can earn more money before you start paying tax.

It comes after the rate at which you pay contributions was raised by 1.25 percentage points in April. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said seven out of 10 people will be paying less for NI from July even with the 1.25 percentage point increase to the contributions.

If you're paying less tax and therefore getting more money in your take-home pay, this could affect your Universal Credit. If you're in work, the amount of Universal Credit you get reduces as you earn more.

At the moment, the taper rate - how much your benefit is