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UC mandatory migration guide for members update

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Benefits and Work has updated our members’ guide to ‘Successful ESA to UC Managed Migration’ to take account of current claimant concerns.

In general, the impression we are getting from feedback from members is that managed migration is progressing relatively smoothly, at least in terms of very few people now being asked to produce fit-notes or agree to work commitments when having been in the support group.

But it is still very early in the process of moving 60,000+ ESA claimants onto UC every month and only time will tell whether the DWP have invested enough is support processes and visiting staff to be able to cope with demand from more vulnerable claimants.

In the meantime, we have added the following items to the troubleshooting section of the managed migration guide:

  • You were receiving contribution-based ESA and the DWP have moved you to ‘New-Style ESA’
  • You have moved to UC and have now realised you should have been receiving more irESA (or other legacy benefits) before you moved
  • You are having a deduction from your UC housing costs element for a spare bedroom or the wrong rate of local housing allowance is being applied.
  • You rent a property but were not receiving Housing Benefit before you moved to UC
  • Your partner is being asked to look for work when they did not have to do this on legacy benefits
  • Your legacy benefits run-on lasted for more than 2 weeks and the DWP say you have to pay the extra money back
  • Help! I’m having deductions from my UC for debts I didn’t know I had!

We’ve also updated the guide to “Employment & Support Allowance and Universal Credit Claims On Physical and Mental Health Grounds” which covers the WCA in great detail.  We’ve added a step-by-step system for completing each of the “Use this space” boxes, more information about issues that may be covered at an assessment and more about what HAAS health professionals are told about each activity in their handbook.

Members can download both guides from this page  

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    CaroA
    · 8 hours ago
    For many of us who need disability benefits, the story didn’t start with illness or injury—it started long before, in childhoods where we became adults too soon. I grew up learning how to keep the world from falling apart, where ordinary worries were overshadowed by the weight of survival. Instead of playing or dreaming, I was working—whether it was caring for others, managing household chores, or finding ways to hold everything together when the adults around me couldn’t. I learned early how to step into roles no child should have to fill, taking on responsibilities that felt more like a job than a childhood.

    When adulthood came, I did what I thought I was supposed to do—I tried to fit in, to work hard, to thrive. I wore the mask of normality, even when the fractures beneath were deep. I pushed myself to be the reliable friend, the diligent employee, the person who could hold it all together. But beneath the surface, so much of my energy went into keeping the past from swallowing me whole.

    Now, needing support feels exposing. I know that to many, I might just seem like a person who isn’t coping well enough or trying hard enough. But what they don’t see are the decades of effort, the years of pushing through, the hidden cost of appearing okay. They don’t see how much of my adult life has been about managing the fallout from a childhood and adolescence that affected me so much.

    I’ve come to realize that asking for help isn’t a weakness—it’s a strength. It’s an acknowledgment that, after carrying so much for so long, the weight has become too heavy. It’s finding the courage to say that I can’t keep up the impossible standards I’ve held myself to.

    I am not just a claimant or a statistic. I am a person with a story—a survivor of a past that took too much, an adult who tried their best, and someone who, despite everything, is still here. Still reaching out, still hoping, still worthy.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Need help and listen
    · 23 hours ago
    Hi all right I see the news about the 87 condition the government want to do that is Labour Party cut it buy 5 billion or 10billon the question is if they do this where is the money going to go to that what I want to know beacuse I’m disabled person and people be move in debt and poverty and more thanks 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Sal
    · 1 days ago
    My doctor suggested I should apply for pip but I know the nightmare it is . Going to the assessment and waiting. The whole process. People have been waiting months to get assessed or getting a decision. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    BOB
    · 1 days ago
    Just received my migration letter to move from ESA to UC. I tried citizens advice.they can only help me over the phone with online claim not in person. Don't have access to internet at home I told them. Can't get through to my local jobcentre. No body in my local library to help. I'm panicking now. I've got till mid may. But want to get it done. Nerves a wreck.  Was told can make a claim over the phone but don't know if it's the same as online.  

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Michael
      · 10 hours ago
      @BOB But you clearly have a smart phone, as you're messaging on here. It's very easy to do on your phone, too. Simply follow the instructions.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jace
      · 12 hours ago
      @BOB Hi Bob, if you can get to places like this to ask Advice or join MSE https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/benefits-tax-credits plenty of help and advice and guides 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      sara
      · 1 days ago
      @BOB BOB, try not to panic, you have time. One suggestion, wait until after the benefits rates have gone up in April for the new tax year before you migrate, and, if you are expecting a rent increase before your migration deadline date, wait until after that. You will then not have your transitional protection immediately eroded. Keep trying with the help lines and the job centre. You are entitled to a home visit from dwp to help you migrate if all else fails.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Jeff
      · 1 days ago
      @BOB @BOB first things first just relax and have a cup of tea you can do a claim over the phone my friend did it he not on the sick just work search group but he had no internet access and he just does his job search on a piece of paper and that is accepted others on here might give you some more advise on what to do 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Dan
    · 1 days ago
    Managed migration hasn’t been a smooth ride for me; been harassed for fit notes by the job centre,  not agreeing to pay my social housing rent directly to my landlord even when I have explained that I have had problems with this in the past, only paying me the standard rate of UC, no LCWRA payment or transitional protection added even though I have transitioned from the support group ESA. I must be the exception.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      James h
      · 11 hours ago
      @rookie @rookie Why don’t you ask him then?I will find out on Friday anyway when it’s my turn for the shambles 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      rookie
      · 1 days ago
      @James h @James h, did Dan say he'd backed down?
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      sara
      · 1 days ago
      @Dan Dan, bad luck. You're by no means the exception, even though things seem to be going better now. Don't despair, because whilst you might have a battle on getting your rent paid straight to your social landlord, the fit note/lcwra and transitional protection elements are not up for debate. Try to get help from an advice centre, and pursue your case through your online journal as well. You will get your entitlement, it's not discretionary. I do believe exceptions can be made for paying the rent direct to landlord, too.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      James h
      · 1 days ago
      @Dan Dan I’m sorry to hear about that must of been awful and all that stress I wouldn’t have backed down myself but I suppose if they are refusing to pay and need money to pay bills etc then in the end it’s either get help from citizen advise or mp or just say yes to their demands 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    James h
    · 1 days ago
    Mine is being done on Friday  will give an update after that got the passport ready recent esa letter water bill Tenency agreement let’s hope everything goes ok and I won’t be backing down if I get asked about the fit notes either 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      BOB
      · 5 hours ago
      @James h Good luck. Doing mine in next week or to two just writing all the information down what they ask on UC online form. Gathering as much information as possible. 

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