Category: Information & advice

Last week our Family Finance Team ran a webinar looking at the process of managed migration to Universal Credit.
The webinar is now available to watch on our YouTube channel.
You can also download the presentation used during the webinar.
We have also produced a new guide to managed migration.

Your questions answered

This webinar was popular, with almost 50 parent carers in attendance. Our advisers took more questions than they were able to answer during the session.

So, they have answered the questions they weren’t able to address on the day below. We’ve merged similar questions into a single common enquiry.

I currently receive contributory ESA. Is there anything specific I need to do to be migrated onto Universal Credit?

Income-related ESA is one of the benefits that Universal Credit is replacing. However, contributory ESA is not being replaced.

If you get contributory ESA and not income-related ESA, you should continue to get this benefit as normal. You are not going to migrate to Universal Credit unless you are also getting tax credits or a means-tested benefit like housing benefit.

I’m already on UC for myself and it is working well. I am concerned how it will work for my son who is currently on income-related ESA and in the support group. I’m worried he’ll be expected to look for work under Universal Credit.

If your son is in the support group for ESA, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will already accept that he has a limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA).

This means that when he migrates onto Universal Credit (probably next year), they too will treat him as having a LCWRA and he will be exempt from having to look for work and training as part of his Universal Credit claim.

Is it true that you get transitional protection if you are currently getting the severe disability premium (SDP) and move to a new LA and make a claim for Universal Credit.

The general rule is that you can only be transitionally protected if you move to Universal Credit under the managed migration rules. That means after you have received a managed migration notice and within certain deadlines. Normally, you are not eligible for transitional protection if you claim early as a result of ‘natural migration’ i.e. a change of circumstances such as your housing benefit stopping because you’ve moved to a new tenancy in a different local authority area.

There is an exception to this general rule. You can still get some limited transitional protection if you move to Universal Credit as a result of natural migration so long as you are a disabled adult who receives a payment known as the severe disability premium as part of your income support, income-related ESA or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance award. This is known as the ‘transitional severe disability element’. However, in these circumstances you are only likely to get partial transitional protection, rather than full transitional protection. Seek further advice about your individual case.

I was asked to migrate to Universal Credit last year, despite one of my sons being 19 and in non-advanced education. I didn’t know that families with 19 year olds in non-advanced education were supposed to be protected and that I could have asked for my migration notice to be cancelled. I’m on Universal Credit but my transitional protection has now stopped due to changes in circumstances. Is there anything I can do now?

I’m sorry to hear that you received a managed migration notice in error. The only thing you can do now is seek local advice from a Citizen’s Advice or welfare rights unit about making a complaint to the DWP.

You can try to seek compensation for any losses that you have experienced as a result of the DWP asking you to move onto Universal Credit in error. If you have not already done so, you should also get advice about any disabled child who has past the August after their 19th birthday claiming Universal Credit in their own right.

My son is likely to go into supported living next year and will therefore be claiming Housing Benefit for the first time. Should I delay him entering supported living until he gets his managed migration notice so that he doesn’t have to naturally migrate without getting transitional protection?

The rules around benefit payments in supported accommodation are extremely complex, and you will need individual advice. Please contact our free helpline to speak to one of our Family Finance Team about your son’s situation.

I’ve heard that Universal Credit have agreed to extend the deadline for claiming Universal Credit where a child has ‘looked after’ status. Who do I need to speak to about this?

If you have a looked after child and have received a managed migration notice, you will need to urgently phone the Contact helpline on 0808 808 3555.

Universal Credit have agreed that where Contact’s Family Finance Team pass onto them the details of a family with a looked after child, they will extend that family’s managed migration deadline to February 2025. However, as far as we are aware, they only agree to do this in cases where Contact pass on an individual family’s details to them.

Does the extension in the deadline date to February 2025 only apply to looked after children?

Yes, the only group we are aware of who are having extended deadlines to February 2025 are families with a looked-after child, whose case our Family Finance Team flags to the Universal Credit office..

If you have a young person in university who lives in halls but comes home at weekends / holidays, are you allocated a bedroom for them in your Universal Credit award and are they considered as a non-dependent?

It’s possible that Universal Credit will continue to treat you as needing a bedroom for a young adult who is away from home at university during term-time. In making a decision on whether to allow a bedroom for a student who is away from home during term-time, Universal Credit need to decide whether the student normally lives at home or normally lives at their university address.

They can look at a range of factors in deciding this – including the frequency of returns home, whether they still receive mail at their home address, what address they are registered with for doctors and dentists, and the extent that they are liable for bills such as gas and electricity at their university address.

If a student is treated as normally living with you, then it is possible that a non-dependant deduction may be applied to your Universal Credit. However, this will also depend on their age and what disability benefits they receive if any.

I’ve only just made a claim for DLA for my child, if this gets granted after I have migrated onto Universal Credit, will it be deducted from any transitional protection I’ve got? If so, would this be a reason for them to grant an extension to my deadline date?

This is a complex area. Universal Credit say that where a disability benefit such as DLA is awarded after you migrate, but the disability benefit in question is backdated to a date before migration, they will revise your universal credit award retrospectively and increase your transitional element if necessary. Some advisers are concerned that this goes beyond what the regulations require, but the DWP is adamant that this is what they will do in practice.

Perhaps because of this, official DWP guidance is that awaiting the outcome of a disability benefit decision is not grounds to grant an extension in your deadline date. Despite this official guidance, we are aware of many cases where families waiting for a DLA or PIP decision have been granted an extension in their deadline day, so it is definitely still worth trying.

If you are refused an extension, make sure that before you migrate you tell the offices paying you any legacy benefits that you are awaiting a decision on a qualifying disability benefit and ask them to carry out a supersession of your legacy benefit on the basis of an impending decision on a qualifying disability benefit.

As a disabled person can I claim Universal Credit when I am studying at university?

The general rule is that most students in full time advanced education cannot get Universal Credit.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule – for example you are allowed to claim if you are a student who has dependent children or if you established a limited capability for work prior to starting your course. There are also special rules allowing students who manage migrate to be exempt from the student restrictions, for as long as they remain on a course that they had started before migration.

Even if you are a student who is able to claim Universal Credit, the student income you receive such as a student loan, is counted as income and will reduce the amount of Universal Credit you are entitled to. In some cases, a student’s award may be reduced to nil because of their student income.

I’m due to migrate soon but I expect to inherit capital later this year. This will take my capital above £16,000. How will this impact on my Universal Credit and what about the other benefits I receive like child benefit and widowed parent’s allowance?

If you first start to receive capital above £16,000 after you migrate. I am afraid that this will end your Universal Credit award immediately. The other benefits you mention will continue as they aren’t affected by capital.

Assuming you currently get tax credits, this would be grounds for asking the DWP to extend your managed migration deadline day until after you have received this capital. If they agree and you migrate after your capital has gone up above £16,000, it will be ignored for up to 12 months under the transitional capital disregard rule.

If a young person is removed from your Universal Credit claim because they reach the 31st August after their 19th birthday does this mean that you stop getting a transitional element in your award.
No, you do not lose your transitional element simply because a young person stops being treated as part of your claim. You will still continue to have a transitional element included in your Universal Credit calculation. However, your Universal Credit payments will drop as you will no longer be getting child elements for that young person.

We’ve received our migration notice but our rent will be increased soon. Does it matter whether we migrate before or after the increase in our rent costs?

It will be better if you migrate after your rent increase, if at all possible. The reason for this is that if you have a change in circumstances, that happens after the first month of your Universal Credit claim, any increase in your Universal Credit payments will be deducted from your transitional element. So, if the housing element you receive starts to increase, and this happens after your first UC monthly assessment period, this increase in help with rent is simply deducted from any transitional element you are being paid – leaving you no better off.

If your rent increases before you migrate – or within the first month of your claim – you will receive the extra help with rent on top of your transitional element. If your rent is expected to increase after your deadline day this would be grounds for asking the DWP to extend your deadline date.
Is Carer’s Allowance replaced by Universal Credit, or will that continued to be paid separately like child benefit?

Carer’s Allowance continues to be paid as a separate benefit alongside any Universal Credit you get. However, it is treated as income by Universal Credit. This means that any Carer’s Allowance you receive is deducted from your Universal Credit award.

Are we better doing the transition or doing a new claim for Universal Credit to be better off?

We’re not sure what you mean by this. If you mean are you better migrating to Universal Credit or making a new claim for Universal Credit, it is important to understand that under the migration rules you are not automatically transferred onto Universal Credit. Instead, you will need to make a claim for Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process. The advantage of claiming Universal Credit after you have received a migration notice rather than opting to claim early, is that you are only eligible for transitional protection to make sure you are not left worse off if you claim under managed migration rules.

I get child maintenance from my ex-partner. Is that included as income for Universal Credit?

No. Child support maintenance is ignored as income by Universal Credit.

When I claim Universal Credit should I send a consultant letter as proof of disability, or will it be enough to show that PIP is in payment?

If you have a disabled child as part of your claim all you need to show is that they are getting DLA, PIP or one of the Scottish equivalents and a disabled child addition will be included in your Universal Credit.

However, the situation is different if you are asking about getting an extra disability amount for an adult claimant or their partner. In order to receive an extra UC amount as a disabled adult it’s not enough to show that you have a disability benefit such as PIP. Instead, you need to show that you have a ‘limited capability for work and work related activity’. You may have already done this as part of a previous claim for ESA (or a credits only claim) but if you haven’t you will need to submit fit notes from your GP and then undergo a DWP medical assessment known as a work capability assessment.

I’m a single parent on income support, with child benefit and Adult Disability Payment. I also currently receive kinship payments for my grandchildren. How will these kinship payments affect Universal Credit?

The rules governing Universal Credit payments where you are a kinship carer are extremely complex and partly depend on whether that child you care for has ‘looked after’ status. You will need individual advice about this issue. Seek advice from a local welfare rights service, Citizens Advice or by calling the Contact Helpline on 0808 808 3555.

I will become a student at university in September. In October I have my Universal Credit deadline. Citizens Advice told me to change my circumstances to that of a student claiming ESA in September. Then migrate to Univeral Credit in October. I am disabled and have a disabled child on DLA. I haven’t claimed carers for him, no-one has. Should I claim carers now? Or would it be a change which causes me to lose transitional protection?

You will need individual advice about your situation. Carer’s Allowance cannot normally be paid to a student who is on a course, that is either defined as full-time or a part-time course if that part-time course involves 21 hours or more ‘supervised study’. If your course is defined as part-time and involves less than 21 hours study then Carer’s Allowance may be an option and you should call our free Helpline to discuss this further.