Move to Universal Credit

Universal Credit (UC) is a state benefit to help working age people with their living and housing costs.

It replaces the following 7 benefits (now known as ‘legacy benefits’), which means that most working age people will no longer be able to make a new claim for them:

• Housing Benefit
• Child Tax Credit
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (this was added as a legacy benefit by the Government on 19 April 2024)

The letter you have received is called a Universal Credit Migration Notice. You have been asked to claim Universal Credit because you currently receive one or more of the legacy benefits that the DWP are replacing with Universal Credit.  When you receive the letter, please read it carefully, and make your claim for Universal Credit before the deadline stated in your Migration Notice.

A Universal Credit Migration Notice is the letter sent by the Department for Work and Pensions to advise you that one or more of your benefits will be ending soon and that you must claim Universal Credit. It will include:

• guidance on how to claim Universal Credit
• the deadline for claiming Universal Credit
• what to do if you need additional assistance or advice about claiming

This is for you to decide, but before you do so we strongly recommend that you check whether you would be financially better off claiming Universal Credit rather than your current benefits. You can check this using our Better Off calculator. 

Go to  www.redbridge.gov.uk/benefits/ and select Benefit Checker.

You should note that if you do decide to claim Universal Credit before you receive a Migration Notice and will be financially worse off under Universal Credit, you will not be eligible for Transitional Protection [See section - Tell me about Transitional Protection]. 

If you have been sent a Universal Credit Migration Notice and you do not claim by the deadline stated in your Migration Notice, your legacy benefits, including Housing Benefit, will end.  This means that you will have to pay your housing and/or living costs from your own funds.

If any of your current benefits are one of the 7 legacy benefits you won’t have a choice; you will need to claim Universal Credit to continue to receive financial support towards your housing and/or living costs. If you do not claim Universal Credit by the deadline stated in your Migration Notice, your current benefits will end, and you will have to pay your housing and/or living costs from your own funds.

We strongly advise you not to ignore your Universal Credit Migration Notice. If you do not claim Universal Credit by the deadline stated in your Migration Notice, your legacy benefits will stop, and you will not be able to reclaim them. This means that you will have to pay your housing and/or living costs from your own funds.

Don’t worry.  Simply log in to your Universal Credit journal to check that your claim is progressing and if so, you can ignore the Migration Notice.

Your Migration Notice will give you information about what to do if you cannot claim online.  There is support available to help people successfully move to UC, including:

• A dedicated Move to Universal Credit telephone helpline: 08001690328
• Universal Credit website: gov.uk/dwp/move-to-uc
• Comprehensive guidance on gov.uk.
• A new gov.uk website dedicated to supporting households move to UC https://ucmove.campaign.gov.uk/
• Help to Claim, delivered independently by Citizens Advice, which provides practical, tailored support to enable individuals to make a new claim to UC or move from legacy benefits Telephone: 08001448444
• Face-to-face support in local Jobcentres

If you don’t make your claim for Universal Credit or contact the DWP before the deadline stated in your Migration Notice, your legacy benefits, including Housing Benefit, will end.  This means that you will have to pay your housing and/or living costs from your own funds.

If you think you will struggle to meet the deadline, you must contact the DWP UC Migration Service on 08001690328 to ask for more time. Provided you keep the DWP informed of your situation they are likely to extend the deadline by one month.

Not necessarily. Most people will be entitled to the same amount on Universal Credit. If the amount you are entitled to on your existing benefits is more than you would get on Universal Credit, a top up is available. This is called Transitional Protection [See section – Tell me about Transitional Protection].

If your circumstances change before you make your claim, this may affect the amount of Universal Credit you get.

A claim for Universal Credit usually takes 4 weeks to process and payment is issued on the 5^th week. You have three months from the Migration Notice to make your claim.  This gives you the opportunity to think about the right time for you to submit your claim and plan how you are going to manage during that period.

Your legacy benefits, including Housing Benefit, will be paid for a further two weeks after their end date. This additional support is called a Run On. It is awarded to help you to manage your finances while you wait for your first Universal Credit payment. [See section - Tell me about a Run On].

Here are some things to consider that might also help:

• If you can, try to set some money aside to help you through
• You may decide to claim Universal Credit immediately after you receive a legacy benefit payment to ensure you have funds to pay your rent (if relevant) and meet your essential outgoings.
• You may wish to delay your claim slightly if you know you have a lot of expenses coming up such as school uniform purchase , car service/MOT or a family event.
• If you pay rent, you may wish to speak to your landlord to let them know that your payment might be late while you wait for your claim for Universal Credit to be processed. You may be able to negotiate a payment arrangement with your landlord.

If you are finding it very hard to manage financially, you can ask for a Universal Credit Budgeting Advance. This is a loan from the DWP which you repay through your Universal Credit payments, over a maximum period of 24 months.   

If you are part of a couple, you and your partner will need to make a joint claim for Universal Credit by the deadline stated in your Migration Notice.

Not necessarily – Council Tax Reduction is a local scheme and not one of the legacy benefits. But, if your legacy benefits stop and we don’t know what your new income is, or we think you should be topping up your income with Universal Credit, we will let you know what information we need from you. Provided you reply with the required information we will recalculate your Council Tax Reduction and notify you of this.

Universal Credit is made up of two parts - an amount for Living costs and an amount for Housing costs. You must declare your rent when you claim UC for the DWP to calculate the Housing costs part of your UC award.  Your UC award notification will tell you how much you have been awarded to help towards your rent each month. Please ensure that you use the Housing costs amount stated to help pay your rent as this will help you to avoid rent arrears and safeguard your tenancy.

No. If you would like the Housing costs part of your Universal Credit to be paid directly to your landlord, you will need to request it. This is called an Alternative Payment Arrangement and is usually only agreed to in exceptional circumstances, where the UC claimant can demonstrate to the DWP that they cannot manage their single monthly payment and there is a risk of financial harm to them or their family.

Housing Benefit will continue for new and existing tenants who live in supported/ sheltered housing that includes 'care, support or supervision’ or those who live in temporary accommodation arranged by the council’s Housing Service due to homelessness. However, if you receive any of the other legacy benefits, you are still required to change to Universal Credit for those and must claim UC by the deadline stated in your Migration Notice.

Most pensioners do not need to claim Universal Credit as it is a benefit for working age people. However, if you receive Tax Credits, you will receive a Migration Notice and you will be invited to claim either Universal Credit or Pension Credit, depending on your circumstances – the DWP will explain this to you in the letter they send you.

If you are part of a couple where one of you is state pension age and the other is younger than state pension age, you are classed as a Mixed Age couple. If you receive any of the 7 legacy benefits, you will receive a Migration Notice and will have to claim Universal Credit as a couple.

Anyone transferring from one of the legacy benefits to Universal Credit will continue to receive their existing benefit(s) for an extra two weeks after the start of their Universal Credit claim. This is called a Run-On payment. It is awarded to help you to manage your finances while you wait for your first Universal Credit payment.

Transitional Protection payments are temporary payments that top-up Universal Credit to help make up the difference if your UC entitlement is less than the amount you received under legacy benefits. It is only payable to those who receive a Migration Notice and will be worse off on UC. To be eligible for a Transitional Protection payment you MUST claim Universal Credit by the deadline date on your UC Migration Notice and then the DWP will work out whether you qualify for Transitional Protection.  You are not eligible for Transitional Protection if you claim Universal Credit before you receive a Migration Notice.

The DWP has set out a timetable to manage this huge change and everyone currently receiving a legacy benefit will have to migrate to Universal Credit at some stage, so this may mean your neighbour gets their Migration Notice at a different time to you.

No. Nationally, around half a million people will be told to claim Universal Credit this year. The DWP has set out a migration timetable to manage this huge change and everyone currently receiving a legacy benefit will have to migrate to Universal Credit at some stage.

When you make your claim for Universal Credit, the DWP will notify the relevant departments so they can end your legacy benefits and award a Run On. If you do not live in temporary or supported/sheltered accommodation and start receiving Universal Credit payments that include housing costs, and also continue to receive receiving Housing Benefit payments, please notify the Benefit Service promptly. You can do this through our online portal at www.redbridge.gov.uk/benefits by selecting the option, Tell us about a change of circumstances.

If you pay rent you may wish to warn your landlord that that your payment might be late while you wait for your claim for Universal Credit to be processed. You may be able to negotiate a payment arrangement with them.

If you have a formal debt management plan, an IVA or are repaying a debt through your earnings or benefits, we recommend you advise your creditor(s). This will ensure that they do not try to take a payment while your Universal Credit claim is being processed.