Six DWP benefits set to end in the coming months - How to still get your payments

Six legacy benefits for Brits of working age are set to end in the coming months as they’re absorbed into the Universal Credit (UC) offerings. However, this move won’t happen automatically and they’ll need to take swift action if they want to avoid disruptions in their payments from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

The six means-tested benefits include Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It’s currently impossible to make a new claim for these benefits in most circumstances and claimants will be receiving Migration Notices to help them move over to UC if they’re eligible.

There has been two types of migration; voluntary with those on legacy benefits choosing when to move over and managed migration which started last April and falls into the DWP’s official timeline. Stats from last November showed 5.36 million household were on UC while 1.66 million were left o legacy benefits.

440,000 households are expected to have received their mandatory migration notices by the end of this month. When you receive this notice, it will detail what legacy benefit awards you get are set to end and when. The DWP wanted claimants not to act until they receive this letter although they can use online benefits calculators to check how much UC they are eligible for.

It will also give you a deadline for claiming UC and steps to follow for this. You will usually need to make a claim within three months of the migration notice unless you have a good reason for missing this deadline. The DWP will also highlight what support and help is available to you during this process as well as reminder letters when