ESA benefit claimants risk massive losses before Christmas as many are failing to respond to Universal Credit migration notices the deadline
Recipients of Income-related Employment Support Allowance (ESA) will have their benefit payments stopped if they do not respond to their migration notices.
The ESA legacy benefit applies to people with disabilities or health conditions. Universal Credit is set to replace ESA by Christmas of this year. Claimants will have received a migration notice in the mail notifying them their deadline (three months for post date) to switch over to Universal Credit.
ESA claimants will have received their migration notices in the mail in September. If they do not claim Universal Credit by their deadline, their benefits will stop. Claimants are being reminded that they won’t be moved onto UC automatically.
Households claiming income-related ESA could miss out on up to £12,405 a year, not to mention thousands of pounds in additional housing, child and carer support.
Originally, ESA claimants were meant to get their migration notices in 2028/9 however the deadline has been pushed forward to the end of this year. The reason being that ESA claimants are expected to be better off on Universal Credit than ESA.
However, many claimants may not be aware of these new deadlines, with 800,000 claimants at risk of losing their benefits before the Christmas break.
ACT NOW
The DWP is warning claimants to act now. Already, 34% of claimants have lost their benefits because they did not claim Universal Credit before their three month deadline.
So, on Universal Credit, live-in couples on income-related ESA who are 25 or over will get £617.60 in monthly standard allowance and an extra £416.19 if they have limited capability for work. That’s £1’033.7 a month, or £12,405.48 a year!
Not the mention additional benefits people can get for having children under 20 (£333.33 for the first child and £287.92 for the second child), or in housing support (depending on price of rent). Carer’s can get an extra monthly amount of £198.31 if they provide care for at least 35 hours a week.
If claimants are worried about the wait period for their first UC payment, not to worry. Claiming before the deadline means they may receive a two-week payment from their ESA benefit.
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