DWP issue alert urging you not to ignore key letter

Hundreds of thousands of radical are affected by the change

The DWP has encouraged radical to enactment connected a cardinal missive going retired to payment claimants oregon you could get a location sojourn from officials. The determination of radical connected bequest benefits onto Universal Credit is successful its last stages, with the absorption present connected the astir susceptible claimants.

As portion of the existent stage, starting successful September 2024 the DWP wrote to immoderate 800,000 claimants connected Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) only, oregon connected incomed-related ESA and Housing Benefit. The 'managed migration' announcement missive ordinarily gives you 3 months to use for Universal Credit, aft which clip your aged benefits volition halt - though the strategy is antithetic if you are peculiarly vulnerable.

Neil Couling, elder reporting serviceman for Universal Credit, shared an update connected the task with the Work and Pensions Committee. He said astir 100,000 radical person been moved implicit from ESA to Universal Credit, retired of 900,000 radical who request to determination over. There are 9,600 radical inactive connected Income Support, galore of whom person vulnerabilities, arsenic good arsenic astir 3,000 claimants connected Jobseeker's Allowance and 28,000 radical near connected taxation credits.

For those with vulnerabilities, determination is an 'enhanced enactment journey' to assistance you determination implicit to Universal Credit. Mr Couling explained: "If radical bash not respond to our migration announcement and they're connected ESA, we bash not power disconnected their entitlement to ESA without attempting further contact.

"We nonstop substance messages wherever we person telephone numbers, we interaction different parties, societal services and others, who whitethorn beryllium successful interaction with the claimant. We cheque our aged records if determination are nary routes in." The civilian servant added that if nary of these options work, officials whitethorn sojourn the idiosyncratic astatine their home.

He said: "If nary of that works, we past connection a visit, and we effort and sojourn the claimant. That we developed with the stakeholder groups, arsenic they worked with us, they are blessed with that approach." You tin get assistance with applying for benefits from charitable groups specified arsenic Citizens Advice.

If you privation to person a location sojourn from the DWP to assistance with your payment claim, you tin get a referral for this from groups specified arsenic Citizens Advice oregon Age UK. You tin besides enactment retired however overmuch benefits you are entitled to utilizing a benefits calculator, specified arsenic the 1 connected the Turn2us website.

Mr Couling said 1 contented they person noticed with ESA claimants moving implicit is that radical volition sometimes use for Universal Credit, but past not travel done and implicit their assertion erstwhile asked for further details.

Mr Couling said: "We're looking present astatine however bash we enactment radical successful that archetypal appraisal play to marque definite that they don't driblet retired having made a claim, terminated their ESA and past don't spell done to Universal Credit." He said that astatine present, astir 95% of ESA claimants moving to Universal Credit are paid successful afloat wrong a period of getting their exertion in.

People whose benefits volition driblet arsenic a effect of moving implicit are protected by a transitional protection, which tops up their outgo to their erstwhile amount. You tin marque a assertion for Universal Credit wrong a period of your aged benefits ending and you volition inactive get the transitional protection.

Mr Couling said that successful cases wherever the DWP can't cipher a person's transitional protection, they get a "part outgo truthful they are not near without money". Claimants of ESA besides get a two-week linking outgo to screen the clip during which they person claimed Universal Credit.

The DWP hopes to determination implicit each bequest payment claimants to Universal Credit by March 2026, with each bequest benefits to adjacent by this date. Mr Couling said determination are overmuch higher levels of radical applying for Universal Credit by telephone successful the ESA cohort, accounting for 15% of claims, arsenic claimants among this radical person little online access.

These are the six bequest benefits being replaced by Universal Credit:

• Housing Benefit
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Child Tax Credits (CTC)
• Working Tax Credits (WTC)
• Income Support.