Moving from older benefits to Universal Credit

Legacy benefits include Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income based  Jobseekers Allowance, income related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support.

If you are on one of these legacy benefits, you should look out for your Universal Credit Migration Notice from the DWP, this will tell you when your deadline is for claiming Universal Credit. Please note that you will not be transferred to Universal Credit automatically, you will need to apply online once your letter comes in.

It’s important to make sure you apply for Universal Credit before the application deadline, but you should only apply once your letter comes through and once you’ve figured out if you’ll be worse off on Universal Credit. Our advisors can discuss this with you and explain when it is best to make your claim. We can also help you calculate your Universal Credit amount.

If you claim Universal Credit before the deadline in your letter and find that you are worse off financially as a result, you can receive Transitional Protection.

This means that you would receive the same amount as you did when you claimed legacy benefits until your circumstances change or until your Universal Credit rates catch up.

There will be a deadline date on your Migration Notice. This is the date that your legacy benefits will stop coming in. If you choose not to claim Universal Credit, you will stop receiving benefits once your legacy benefits stop.

It’s also worth noting that Universal Credit cannot be backdated so it is important to claim it when your Migration Notice comes in if you rely on Legacy benefits for your income.

Find out more information about Universal Credit.

You can choose to move from legacy benefits to Universal Credit, instead of waiting for your Migration Notice to come in from DWP. However, it is important to get advice before doing this to make sure you will not be worse off.

If you choose to move to Universal Credit before being invited by DWP, you will not receive any transitional protection. You will also not get transitional protection if a move to Universal Credit was triggered by a change in your circumstances.

If you are already getting transitional protection and have a change of circumstances, your Universal Credit will drop to the amount of Universal Credit you should be getting.

If you are getting a legacy benefit and have a change in your circumstances, you may have to claim Universal Credit instead.

Circumstances that can trigger a move to Universal Credit include:

• already getting Jobseeker’s Allowance and you becoming a single parent
• start needing to claim help with rent if you don’t already have Housing Benefit or move to another local authority
• getting Income Support when your youngest child turns 5

For example: Magda is part of a couple and is currently getting Jobseeker’s Allowance as part of a joint claim. She has just become a single parent and needs to move onto Universal Credit as she will now claim on her own.

Conditionality is the set of work-related activities that any person receiving Universal Credit (UC) needs to fulfil in order to be paid their Universal Credit.

If you do not meet these requirements without a valid reason, your Universal Credit payments might be reduced or stopped temporarily. This is called a sanction.

Find out what these rules mean for you. 

You can get advice from:

• Use our live chat or call our Lone Parent Helpline on 0808 801 0323 Mon – Fri, 9.30 am – 4pm
• Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau
• Welfare Rights officers can help you at your local council. Find your local council website
• Use the OPFS benefits calculator