Managed migration – readers experiences

Details: Published: 04 October 2024

Have you been through the universal credit (UC) managed migration process or are you going through it right now?

Could you share your experiences with other readers?

You may have had a very straightforward migration and your positive result will be encouraging for others waiting to be moved.

Or you may have encountered difficulties which it would be helpful for readers to know about in advance, so that they can be prepared for them.

We have a growing number of resources for members being migrated from employment and support allowance (ESA) to UC on our ESA/UC guides page. But we know that there is no substitute for hearing from people who are further along the route than you are.

So, please do share your story in the comments section below – it may make a real difference to your fellow claimants.

In your comment, any of the following details will help us to try to find a pattern to who is being migrated first:

details of which benefit(s) you were migrated from,
whether you were in the ESA support group or LCW group,
roughly when it happened, or whether it is still happening now,
roughly what area of the country you live in,
the first letter of your surname

Please only comment on this article if you are sharing your experience of migrating or asking a question from someone who has shared - other comments won't be published here.

More general comments can be posted at ESA to UC managed migration has begun

Comments

or post as a guest

People in conversation:

Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
wibblum · 2 months ago
Can anyone tell us exactly how hard a time you'll have claiming UC if you don't have 'acceptable' photo ID such as a passport or driver's license?
- 9 Up 0 Down
- Reply
- Share
- Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
  tony horse · 2 months ago
  
  @wibblum Wife had same problem no passport or driving license. Had to go to jobcentre with things like outdated passport, bank card, birth certificate , bill with her name and address on it- you didnt need all these, it didnt take long and they accepted the ID. You probably just need to be prepared to go to the Jobcentre with other ID and then should be fine.
  
  6 Up 0 Down
  
  Reply
  
  Share
Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
sam · 2 months ago
i have just gone from esa to uc and it was very difficult to understand at first, you get offered an advance payment so try to keep some of that and pay some off your rent as two weeks later u get your last payment from esa and then you have to go three more weeks without no money they write to you on the journal but can take days to reply back to u. don’t panic to much they as for a fitnote but that’s while their waiting for your claim to go over from esa the day they shut your claim the next day uc get all your information. then they also offer you another advance payment but that’s got to checked by yourself on your journel so keep an eye on that. you will get into rent arrears and i don’t agree with that and also having to pay back the advance payment. just make sure you make it affordable for yourself to pay it back. if you stress to much over it then seek help
- 12 Up 1 Down
- Reply
- Share
- Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
  Bobdole · 2 months ago
  
  @sam If you're moving to universal credit from the support group, you don't need to provide a fit note. The government's own website even confirms this. You don't need to provide a fit note if: you move from esa to uc without a break, you have already completed a wca and if you were in wrag or support group when you moved to uc.
  Unfortunately the DWP are literally so incompetent, they don't even know how their own system works!
  
  11 Up 0 Down
  
  Reply
  
  Share
- Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
  micksville · 2 months ago
  
  @sam As per the advice from B and W
  Will I have to provide a fit note or prove I am unfit for work if I am
  moving to UC from ESA?
  No, if you have already been assessed for ESA (and put into the work-related activity or support
  groups), you will not have to provide a fit note when you move to Universal Credit.
  We have heard of cases of work coaches telling people who are receiving ESA and claiming UC
  as a top up, or who are moving to UC from ESA, that they need to start providing fit notes. This
  can cause difficulties with the person’s GP, who will have been told by ESA to stop providing fit
  notes once the person was found incapable of work.
  Regulation 40 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 confirms that someone has limited
  capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) for UC if they have been found to have
  LCWRA for either UC or ESA (the support component). The equivalent rule for people who have
  been found to have limited capability for work (LCW) can be found in Universal Credit
  Regulation 39.
  The DWP’s Advice for Decision Makers (their guidance to their staff) also confirms that if
  someone moves under managed migration, their work capability assessment decision from ESA
  moves with them (paragraph M6192 for the work-related activity component and paragraph
  M6195-6 for the support component).
  
  17 Up 0 Down
  
  Reply
  
  Share
- Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
  micksville · 2 months ago
  
  @sam I'm assuming yours was a managed migration? Also, were you in the support group of ESA?I ask this as Benefits and work have advised via the forum that if in SG you should go directly into the UC equivalent of SG and not need a fit note. I did read one B and W member saying the work coach online had demanded a fit note but again the advice given was to contact, via your journal, the case manager instead as they are more conversant with the rules and regs surrounding fit notes
  
  7 Up 0 Down
  
  Reply
  
  Share
Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
HRH · 2 months ago
would it be possible to add the area you live in so we can get a sense of the pattern of ESA migrations?
thank you
- 11 Up 0 Down
- Reply
- Share
Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
Zainab · 2 months ago
The application process is pretty straightforward (if you are comfortable doing it online), but I had to wait for more than two weeks to get my first UC payment.
- 7 Up 0 Down
- Reply
- Share

News