The DWP is accelerating the transition to Universal Credit, phasing out legacy benefits by March 2026. All remaining claimants will receive a notice urging them to migrate within three months or face losing their support.
Over the past three years, the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) has been working to accelerate the transition from 'legacy' benefits and tax credits to the simplified one-for-all Universal Credit system, which has faced years of delays since its initial rollout in 2013. However, these older-style benefits are soon to be phased out completely.
All claimants who have not yet transitioned to Universal Credit will receive a letter by the end of this year, giving them three months to move over to the new system or risk losing their financial support from the DWP. This means the final payments for these benefits will come in March 2026. Individuals receiving assistance like Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit, and Income Support have already been transferred to the new system. The remaining group to undergo 'managed migration' are the 800,000 claimants of income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) only, or income-related ESA and Housing Benefit. While people claiming these benefits may be concerned that their financial support will be lower under Universal Credit, there is automatic protection in place that should maintain their monthly payments at the same level. This is known as transitional protection, but it's crucial to be aware that you could lose it for various reasons. In fact, you will not receive this automatic transitional protection if you fail to respond to the migration notice sent by the DWP within three months. After that, you will have to make a fresh claim for Universal Credit.The value of this protection can decrease over time, typically if other life circumstances lead to an increase in your Universal Credit. There are five main reasons for this, including having a child, becoming a carer, worsening health, rent increases, or even if the government changes benefit payment rates. The DWP provides an example to illustrate this: 'Jane's current Universal Credit payment is £800, which includes a transitional protection amount of £200. Jane has a second child added to her claim. This increases her Universal Credit amount by £50. This means Jane's transitional protection amount will decrease by £50. However, her total Universal Credit payment is still £800.' The only exception to this rule is if you receive additional support for childcare costs, which will leave your transitional protection intact. However, some changes to your circumstances could result in your protection ending entirely, rather than reducing. Having a partner move in or out of your household could significantly impact your Universal Credit claim and affect this. Or, if you start earning enough to reach the earnings threshold and reduce your benefit payments to zero for four calendar months - often called an 'assessment period.' If your earnings fall below this threshold after the four-month period, you will have to reapply for Universal Credit and will not receive transitional protection. If you disagree with your transitional protection payment calculations, you can request a mandatory reconsideration with the DWP
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