A guide to managed migration
This article is a guide to managed migration, the organised process of moving people getting other benefits to Universal Credit.
This article was published on 25 July 2022. It was updated most recently on 27 June 2024.
Introduction
Universal Credit is replacing six legacy benefits: income-related Employment and Support Allowance (irESA), income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (ibJSA), Income Support (IS), Child Tax Credit (CTC), Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Housing Benefit (HB).
New claims for these benefits can no longer be made, other than in very limited circumstances. People already on these benefits may choose to claim UC, or may claim UC if a change of circumstances means entitlement to a legacy benefit ends.
Managed migration is the organised process of moving legacy benefit claimants across to UC and ending their legacy benefit awards.
Until people come under managed migration, they can remain on the legacy benefits they are receiving, if they remain entitled to them, unless they make a claim for UC. If they claim UC, any legacy benefit awards will terminate. If someone who doesn’t come under managed migration claims UC, this is known as ‘natural migration.’ Note: the DWP distinguishes ‘natural migration’ — where a person has a change of circumstances which causes their legacy benefit to stop — from ‘voluntary migration’ — where a person claims UC despite there being no relevant change of circumstances and no migration notice.
Once people come under managed migration, in contrast, they will no longer have the option of remaining on legacy benefits. This will be the case even if they continue to meet the conditions of entitlement for the benefits they were getting. The managed migration process sets out when their existing benefits will end and their UC award will begin. Clients who come under managed migration will get a notification from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and will need to make a claim for UC. Their legacy benefits will end whether or not they claim UC.
This article will cover the process of managed migration, what clients need to do, and when their legacy benefits will end. It will also cover who can qualify for transitional protection, how it’s worked out, and when it can end. The article also has a list of definitions of the terms involved which may be useful to refer to.
What has happened so far and what is happening next?
The managed migration process was originally started in 2019 with a pilot in Harrogate, but only 38 people were moved to UC before this was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In May 2022, the DWP started a ‘discovery phase’ of managed migration, initially with small numbers only in certain areas.¹ From April 2023, the DWP expanded the process of sending migration notices to claimants getting Tax Credits only.
From April 2024, the DWP plans to migrate claimants getting Tax Credits along with another legacy benefit, and claimants getting HB, Income Support and income-based JSA. The DWP has said that pension-age Tax Credit claimants will be migrated from August 2024. The DWP has also said that the remaining ESA claimants would be migrated by December 2025 (previously, these were not planned to be migrated until 2028/29). ²
The managed migration rules are set out in The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 (‘the TP Regs’). The TP Regs deal with different aspects of the replacement of legacy benefits by UC.
What is the managed migration process?
The starting point for the managed migration process for an individual client will be when the DWP issues them with a migration notice. The notice informs the client that legacy benefits will terminate and that they need to claim UC. The notice specifies a day by which the UC claim must be made. This is called the ‘deadline day’ and must be at least 3 months after the date that the notice is issued.³ The DWP could give a deadline day longer than 3 months after the date of the notice — for example, over the Christmas period a period of 4 months has been used instead.
Once the client has been issued with a notice, they become a ‘notified person’. If a person claims UC before the notice is issued, they aren’t a notified person and won’t get transitional protection. This means a client could be much worse off financially if they make a UC claim before getting the notice.
It is important to make sure that a letter received from the DWP referring to a UC claim is actually a migration notice. If a client gets another communication from the DWP that isn’t a migration notice, the client isn’t a notified person yet and won’t be entitled to transitional protection if they claim UC at that stage .The DWP has a UC managed migration helpline, which people can call to check whether a letter they have received is a genuine migration notice. The number is 0800 169 0328, opening hours Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm.
The DWP has discretionary power to cancel the migration notice, including if the DWP considers it necessary to do so in the best interests of the person.⁴ In certain cases of particular vulnerability, it may be possible to argue that the DWP should use its power to cancel the notice, although there would be no right of appeal against the DWP deciding not to cancel the notice. Note that it won’t be possible for anyone to continue getting Tax Credits after 6 April 2025, so it may be more beneficial for Tax Credit claimants to get an extension rather than a cancellation.
The deadline day set out in the migration notice can be extended to a later date.⁵ This can be done either on the DWP’s own initiative or if the client requests the delay and the DWP agrees there’s a good reason for it to be delayed. If the client is making a request, they must do so before the deadline day itself. There would be no right of appeal against the DWP deciding not to delay the deadline day.
Paragraph M7080 in Chapter M7 of the Advice for Decision Making guidance gives some examples of when it may be appropriate for the DWP to extend the deadline, such as when it is difficult for the person to claim UC due to a health condition or a domestic emergency. DWP case manager guidance released after a freedom of information request states that needing more time to get support with making a claim or getting the necessary documents or evidence together could constitute a good reason for an extension.
If a notified person claims UC, the claim is a ‘qualifying claim,’ as long as it’s made before the final deadline. A qualifying claim means that it will be covered by transitional protection.
When a notified person claims UC, their ‘migration day’ is the day before the first day of UC entitlement. The UC claim will bring about the end of their entitlement to any legacy benefits they were getting.
- Any award of TC would end on the migration day itself.
- Any awards of HB, IS, income-related ESA or income-based JSA would end 2 weeks after the deadline day. This is a 2-week run-on of these benefits which overlaps with UC entitlement. The money from the run-on payment is ignored as income for UC.
If the client hasn’t claimed UC by the deadline day (or extended deadline day) their legacy benefits will terminate. The day before the deadline day becomes the ‘migration day’, and the legacy benefits will then terminate on the dates set out in the above paragraph, even though the client hasn’t claimed UC.⁶ The deadline day therefore determines when legacy benefits end by default if the client hasn’t claimed UC.
As well as the deadline day, there is also a ‘final deadline’. This is the last day of the notional assessment period there would be if a UC award started on the deadline day. For example, if the client’s deadline day is 5 August, an assessment period beginning on that day would end on 4 September, so 4 September is the client’s final deadline.
If the client claims UC after the deadline day but before the final deadline, their legacy benefits are still terminated with reference to the original deadline day, but their UC award is backdated to the original deadline day. This therefore extends by a month the time in which the client can claim UC and still receive the same amount. It doesn’t extend the awards of legacy benefits, but allows the UC award to be backdated to the deadline day so that the client receives the same amount. The client still gets transitional protection as long as they’ve claimed UC by the final deadline.
Once the final deadline has passed, the client can still claim UC at any time, but this is only awarded from the date of the claim (subject to backdating under the normal backdating rules). The UC claim would not be a qualifying claim. This means that the client wouldn’t get transitional protection.
Table 1 sets out when UC would start, when legacy benefits would end, and whether the client gets transitional protection depending on the point at which they make the UC claim.
Transitional protection
There are three forms of transitional protection available when a client claims UC under managed migration. These are meant to give some temporary protection to the client at the point of their move to UC. In the words of a DWP Minister in a Parliamentary written answer on 20 July 2022, “this protection is not designed to provide indefinite financial protection.”
Transitional protection only applies when a client claims UC under managed migration and their UC claim is a ‘qualifying claim.’ A qualifying claim is a UC claim made by a notified person before their final deadline. If the client claims UC when they are not a notified person, and migrates naturally, there is no transitional protection they can qualify for other than the severe disability premium (SDP) transitional element.
Two types of transitional protection relate to the UC entitlement rules: a student exemption and a transitional capital disregard. These allow some people to qualify for UC for a period who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible. There is also a transitional element which is added to the calculation of the UC award in some cases to stop clients being financially worse off, which will be covered below.
Student exemption
If the client doesn’t meet the basic conditions of entitlement to UC due to being a full-time student, they will be exempt from that condition. This lasts until the course ends or one of the situations in which transitional protection comes to an end (see below).⁷
Transitional capital disregard
If the client is a Tax Credit claimant who has capital over £16,000 on migration day, there is a transitional capital disregard. This is needed because there’s no capital limit for TC, so a client with capital over £16,000 might meet the qualifying conditions for TC but would not meet the qualifying conditions for UC. Under the transitional capital disregard, any capital above the £16,000 limit is disregarded for the purposes of the UC entitlement conditions and for calculating the UC award if the UC claim is a qualifying claim. This allows TC claimants with capital above the limit to qualify for UC for a period if they claim under managed migration. Capital up to the limit of £16,000 is taken into account in the normal way through deemed income.
The transitional capital disregard ends after 12 months. It might end sooner in the circumstances in which transitional protection ends (see below).⁸ It will also end if the client’s capital drops below £16,000.⁹ This means that a client whose capital drops below £16,000 and then rises above it again would no longer be entitled to UC as the transitional capital disregard would have come to an end.
Note that if a client purposefully reduces their capital during the period of the disregard in order to then remain entitled to UC after 12 months, the notional capital rules may apply. They can only be treated as having notional capital if they have deprived themselves of the capital for the purpose of gaining entitlement to UC, and cannot be treated as having notional capital if they did so to repay a debt that they owe or purchase goods or services where the purchase is considered reasonable.¹⁰
Example — Pauline
Pauline has an award of CTC. They receive a migration notice and then claim UC on 15 July. Pauline’s CTC ends on 14 July, the migration day. On migration day Pauline has £18,000 in savings so the transitional capital disregard applies. The £2,000 by which their capital exceeds the £16,000 limit is ignored, and their deemed income from capital is calculated based on just £16,000 of the capital. At the current rate of calculating capital as £4.35 for each £250 above £6,000, Pauline would have £174 deducted from their maximum UC award.
On 20 September, Pauline’s capital falls below £16,000. The transitional capital disregard ceases to apply from the start of the next assessment period, from 15 October onwards. On 30 October, Pauline’s capital rises above £16,000 again. As the transitional capital disregard no longer applies, Pauline is no longer entitled to UC from 15 October onwards.
Transitional element
Another form of transitional protection is the transitional element. This is an element that is added to the client’s maximum UC award if their UC is less than they were getting on legacy benefits.
Transitional protection only applies when a client claims UC under managed migration and their UC claim is a qualifying claim. If the client claims UC when they are not a notified person, and migrates naturally, the only form of transitional protection they may be able to get is the SDP transitional element.
The transitional element is the difference between
- the ‘total legacy amount’ and
- the ‘indicative UC amount’.
The transitional element is treated as if it was another element included in the maximum UC, before a deduction is made from the maximum UC in respect of their income.¹¹ If the client’s income changes from month to month, the transitional element will stay the same but the overall level of their UC award will vary due to their income.
If the client claims UC as part of a new benefit unit (for example, if they were getting legacy benefits as a member of a couple but then separates and claims UC when they’ve got a migration notice) they won’t get a transitional element.¹²
Example — Nasreen
The DWP calculates that Nasreen’s indicative UC amount is £393.45 and their total legacy amount is £576.33. As a result Nasreen is awarded a transitional element of £182.88. This means their maximum UC will be £576.33 including the transitional element. The maximum UC amount of £576.33 will then be subject to a reduction due to Nasreen’s income in the usual way. If Nasreen has earnings of £200 in the first assessment period and doesn’t have a work allowance, a reduction of £110 will be made due to the earned income, leaving an award of £466.33.
Total legacy amount
The total legacy amount is calculated by working out a representative monthly rate of each of the legacy benefits that the client is entitled to on migration day. The total legacy amount is the sum of the representative monthly rates of each of the legacy benefits.
For example, if the client is entitled to Income Support of £54.20 per week and Housing Benefit of £100 per week on migration day, the representative monthly rate of Income Support will be £234.87, the representative monthly rate of Housing Benefit will be £433.33, and the total legacy amount will be £668.20.
The total legacy amount is calculated before any deductions due to sanctions.
In cases where the client was entitled to an SDP in their legacy benefits, the SDP is part of the calculation of their total legacy amount. As the SDP is part of the calculation of the transitional element, there is no separate SDP transitional element (as there is in natural migration) if a client qualifies for a transitional element.¹³ However, in cases where a client doesn’t qualify for a transitional element because their total legacy amount is lower than their indicative UC amount, it may still be possible to get an SDP transitional element.
The benefit cap may need to be applied to the total legacy amount if the existing benefits don’t include a HB award or the HB award has already been reduced to the minimum amount of 50p. This is because the benefit cap in legacy benefits is only deducted from HB, or where the HB has already been fully reduced, an amount for the benefit cap will need to be taken off the total legacy amount.¹⁴ It is worth checking if there’s any way that the client can be exempted from the cap before managed migration to UC.
Indicative UC amount
The indicative UC amount is the amount of UC a client would be entitled to if a UC award was calculated based on their circumstances on migration day.
A few assumptions are made when calculating the indicative UC amount. The assumptions mean that there are some ways that the legacy benefit rules are applied when calculating the indicative UC amount.¹⁵
One assumption is that the client is considered to be responsible for any children or qualifying young people who were included in their CTC. Arguably, this applies only to whether they’re responsible for a child or QYP, not whether a young person counts as a child or QYP in the first place. For example where a 19-year old in further education counts as a QYP for CTC but not for UC, arguably the indicative UC amount should not include a child element.
Another assumption is that the client is considered to have childcare costs equal to a monthly equivalent of the weekly childcare charges included in their TC award.
The final assumption is that the client is considered to have earned income of a monthly equivalent of the earned income taken into account when calculating their total legacy amount. This is the amount used for the TC calculation if they were getting TC, the amount for the IS/JSA/ESA calculation if they were getting one of those benefits but not TC, or the amount for the HB calculation if they were getting HB but none of the other legacy benefits. A notional amount for tax and national insurance may need to be taken from the income figure used for TC. Note however, that this assumption only applies to earned income and not to unearned income, where the indicative UC amount should follow the usual UC rules.
The indicative UC amount is calculated after a reduction for the benefit cap, but before any reduction due to sanctions.
The transitional element and later changes
If the client’s total legacy amount exceeds their indicative UC amount, the transitional element will be the difference between the two amounts. If the client’s indicative UC amount was £0 because the reduction due to their income exceeded their maximum UC amount, the difference is added to the total legacy amount to make sure that the transitional element fully compensates for the difference between their legacy benefits and UC.
If the client is entitled to a transitional element, this will be added to the client’s maximum UC in the first assessment period. A decision about UC entitlement, including the amount of the transitional element, can be challenged through MR and appeal. If a client disagrees with how their transitional element has been calculated, they should ask for an MR of the decision and appeal if they still disagree with the MR decision. They should also ask the DWP for a breakdown to check how the DWP has calculated the transitional element.
There may be situations when the transitional element needs to be recalculated. As well as the usual powers for revision and supersession, there are specific provisions for revising or superseding an award in relation to calculation of the transitional element. [16] These are for when:
- the DWP decides that the information held on migration day was inaccurate or incomplete due to a misrepresentation, a failure to report information or an official error
- the client applied for a revision or supersession before the migration day, and this is carried out on or after the migration day, or if there is an appeal in relation to such an application.
If there are legacy benefit premiums, elements and components the client is entitled to but isn’t getting, the client should ask for a revision or supersession of their legacy benefit awards before migration day to ensure that they can be taken into account in working out the transitional element.
Example — Anja
Anja gets irESA and has received a migration notice with a deadline day of 1 January. On 20 October Anja is awarded Personal Independence Payment and becomes entitled to the SDP as a result.
Anja should make sure to request a supersession of her ESA to include the SDP before claiming UC. This will ensure that once the SDP is awarded, the transitional element can be recalculated to include it in the total legacy amount.
The provisions don’t cover situations where after claiming UC, the client is retrospectively awarded a qualifying benefit which would have entitled them to an extra premium or element in their legacy benefits on migration day. However, the DWP may still recalculate the client’s transitional element in these situations, so it is still worth requesting that the DWP does this.
Erosion of the transitional element
The transitional element is eroded when other elements of UC increase, including due to annual uprating. The transitional element is reduced by the amount by which the other elements increase within the assessment period.¹⁷ This applies to all elements other than the childcare costs element.
The reduction of the transitional element is calculated based only on any increases in the amount of other elements, not on the overall change in the maximum UC award. This means that if a client has one element that increases and another element that drops or stops within the same assessment period, their transitional element will still reduce by the full amount of the element that’s increased.
However, if a client was getting a limited capability for work element and this changes to a limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) element, their transitional element will only be reduced by the difference between the two.¹⁸
This is another reason it is important to maximise the client’s benefits before migration, and make sure they’re getting all the UC they are entitled to in the first assessment period. Later increases to their entitlement will erode their transitional element.
Example — Zahra and Elliott
Zahra and Elliott get UC with a transitional element of £420. Their UC includes a carer element for Elliott of £198.31 (2024/25 rates), and a childcare costs element of £85. In one assessment period, Elliott is found to have LCWRA, so the carer element is replaced with a LCWRA element of £416.19. This is because the same individual cannot be paid both the LCWRA and carer elements — see this table on overlapping UC elements. In the same assessment period, the family’s childcare costs increase, so the childcare costs element increases from £85 to £140.
The transitional element will be reduced by £416.19, the whole value of the LCWRA element. That is the case even though their maximum UC hasn’t actually increased by £416.19. Their maximum UC only increased by £217.88 because the carer element stopped when they started getting the LCWRA element.
Overall, Zahra and Elliott’s UC has reduced as a result of this change. They have gone from having a transitional element of £420 and carer element of £198.31, to having a transitional element of £3.81 and a LCWRA element of £416.19.
However, the transitional element is unaffected by the increase in the childcare costs element.
When does transitional protection end
There are some situations when transitional protection comes to an end. These apply to all of the types of transitional protection.
- Transitional protection will end if the client’s earnings drop consistently. If the client (and partner if they have one) have earnings at or above the administrative earnings threshold in the first assessment period, but their earnings then drop below the administrative earnings threshold for 3 consecutive months, transitional protection comes to an end.¹⁹ The administrative earnings threshold from May 2024 is £892 for one person’s earnings, or £1,437 for a couple’s combined earnings.²⁰For this purpose they’re treated as having earnings above the threshold if they’re subject to the MIF, including during a start-up period.²¹
- Transitional protection ends if a couple forms or separates. If a single UC claim becomes a joint claim, or joint claimants separate and become single claimants, the transitional protection will end. This means that if a single claimant forms a couple with a partner who is not entitled to UC (for example due to being a person subject to immigration control), their transitional protection would not end, because the award remains a single award.
Additionally, there are situations when each of the individual types of transitional protection comes to an end.
— The transitional element will end when the transitional element is reduced to nil due to erosion. Once this has happened it’s not included in any subsequent assessment periods.²²
— The transitional capital disregard ends after 12 months, or sooner if capital drops below £16,000 (see above).
— The student exemption ends when the course comes to an end.
If the client has transitional protection and their UC award then terminates, or if there’s no entitlement to UC in the first assessment period then they can’t get transitional protection in any subsequent award unless the reason the award terminated or there was no entitlement was because they had too much earned income. If the award terminated because the client had too much earned income, they can get a transitional capital disregard or a transitional element in a subsequent UC award if they become entitled to UC within three months.
Case study — Terry
Terry is an unemployed single parent with one child aged 10 who gets DLA at the middle rate of the care component. Terry is in receipt of legacy benefits of IS, CTC and HB as well as Carer’s Allowance and Child Benefit. Terry is better off on legacy benefits than they would be on UC by around £191.55pcm. This is because the lower rate of the UC disabled child addition is less money than the lower rate of the disabled child element of CTC.
Terry hasn’t yet received a migration notice, but has received a leaflet from HMRC saying they should consider moving to UC.
If…
Terry claims UC on 10 July, before getting a migration notice,
- The CTC will end on 9 July
- the IS and HB will end on 23 July, after the 2-week run-on
- the UC will start on 10 July, and the first assessment period will run until 9 August
- Terry gets no transitional protection, and is £191.55 worse off on UC
Terry receives a migration notice on 1 August, and hasn’t claimed UC yet. The notice says that Terry must claim UC by 2 November — this is the deadline day. Terry is now a notified person.
If…
Terry claims UC on 7 September,
- Terry’s UC claim is a qualifying claim. The migration day is 6 September
- the CTC will end on 6 September
- the IS and HB will end on 20 September, after the 2-week run-on
- The UC award will start on 7 September, and the first assessment period will run until 6 October
- Terry qualifies for transitional protection. A transitional element of £191.55 is included in the maximum UC.
Terry’s unable to make a claim by 2 November, and contacts Citizens Advice on 5 November. They advise Terry to make sure to claim UC by the final deadline of 1 December.
If…
Terry makes a UC claim on 20 November, before the final deadline,
- Terry’s UC claim is a qualifying claim. Migration day is 1 November, the day before the deadline day, as UC hadn’t yet been claimed
- the CTC will end on 1 November
- the IS and HB will end on 15 November, after the 2-week run-on
- the UC award will start on 2 November, and the first assessment period will run until 1 December
- Terry qualifies for transitional protection. A transitional element of £191.55 is included in the maximum UC.
If…
Terry makes a UC claim on 5 December, after the final deadline,
- Terry’s UC claim is not a qualifying claim.
- the CTC will end on 1 November
- the IS and HB will end on 15 November, after the 2-week run-on
- The UC award will start on 5 December and the first assessment period will run until 4 January (unless it can be backdated under the normal rules)
- Terry does not qualify for transitional protection. Terry is £191.55 worse off after claiming UC.
Transitional protection — what happens to Terry’s award
Take the example where Terry claimed UC on 20 November, before the final deadline. A transitional element of £191.55 is included in the maximum UC in the first assessment period which runs from 2 November to 1 December.
In January, Terry gets some temporary work. Their earnings in their third assessment period are too high to qualify for any UC. Terry’s award terminates with effect from 1 January.
The temporary work ends at the end of February. Terry’s earnings in February are too high to qualify for any UC. However, Terry reclaims UC in March and their assessment period runs from 2 March to 1 April. As the reason Terry’s award ended was because of earned income and it is less than 3 months since they had an award of UC with a transitional element, Terry can qualify for transitional protection again. A transitional element of £191.55 is included in Terry’s UC award.
On 5 April Terry’s 15 year-old son returns to live with Terry and Terry’s daughter. Terry informs UC about the change of circumstances. The UC award is increased by £287.92 because of the additional child element.
Terry’s transitional element is reduced to nil because of the increase to the other elements of UC (the child element). This ends Terry’s transitional protection. Even if Terry’s circumstances change again subsequently, their transitional protection has ended and they won’t be able to get a transitional element again.
Conclusion
When client’s receive a migration notice, they will have to claim UC as their legacy benefit entitlement will come to an end. However, there are a number of things that can be done to make sure the client maximises their financial protection when they migrate to UC.
The timing of the UC claim will determine whether the client qualifies for transitional protection. They must claim after they have been issued a migration notice, but before their Final Deadline, to be eligible for protection. This will generally be a four month period.
It can be important to maximise a client’s legacy benefit entitlement before they claim UC. This will ensure that the amount for legacy benefits used in calculating transitional protection includes any relevant premiums. All these changes should be requested at least a day before the UC claim is made to make sure they are taken into account in calculating the transitional element.
It is also important to make sure that the client’s UC award is fully maximised within the first assessment period, as any increases to the elements in later assessment periods will erode their transitional element.
Definitions
Migration notice — An official notice (letter) from the DWP notifying the claimant that they are part of the managed migration process. It will include a date by which the claimant must claim UC. This date must be at least 3 months from the date of the notice.
Notified person — A person to whom a migration notice has been sent. A notified person is eligible for transitional protection on their UC, on a claim made before the final deadline.
Qualifying claim — A claim for UC made by a notified person before the final deadline. A qualifying claim is eligible for transitional protection.
Migration day — the day before the first day of UC entitlement in relation to a qualifying claim.
Deadline day — The date on the migration notice by which time the claimant is told that they must claim UC. In effect, this is the day their legacy benefits will end (although see specific benefits for rules regarding run-ons and termination dates).
Final deadline — One month minus a day after the deadline day (ie, if a person had claimed UC on deadline day, what would have been the last day of their first assessment period). If a person claims UC by this date, they will still be eligible for transitional protection and their UC claim will be backdated to deadline day.
Transitional protection — protection for certain clients coming under managed migration to ensure they aren’t worse off. It includes a transitional capital disregard for TC claimants, and a transitional element. Only a qualifying claim attracts transitional protection. There is also protection allowing full-time students to qualify for UC.
Transitional capital disregard — If a client on TC with capital of more £16,000 claims UC under managed migration, this excess capital will be discounted for 12 months. The client may therefore be entitled to UC despite not meeting the financial conditions. After 12 months, if the claimant still has more than £16,000 they will no longer be entitled to UC. Only a qualifying claim can have a transitional capital disregard.
Transitional element — An element included in the maximum UC to make up the difference if the client receives more on legacy benefits than they would be entitled to on UC. Only a qualifying claim can include a transitional element.
Total legacy amount — a notional amount comprised of the sum of the client’s legacy benefit awards on the migration day, converted into a monthly figure so that it can be compared with the amount of UC the client would be entitled to, in order to calculate the transitional element.
Indicative UC amount — a notional amount representing the award of UC a client would be entitled to get on the migration day. There are some adjustments to how the maximum UC and earned income is calculated, in order to compare it with the total legacy amount. The comparison is used to calculate the transitional element.
Josh Gilbert is a Benefits Expert and Abi Sheridan is a Senior Benefits Expert in the Expert Advice team at Citizens Advice.
The information in this article is correct as of the date of publication.
Unfortunately, we are unable to respond to comments left on the medium site — please contact expertadvicesupport@citizensadvice.org.uk if you wish to give feedback on an article.
References
[1] Dr Coffey’s statement of 25 April 2022; Secretary of State letter to Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, 17 May 2022; LA Welfare Direct 6/2022, paragraph 17.
[2] DWP research and analysis, Completing the move to Universal Credit: Learning from the Discovery Phase, 10 January 2023; Rightsnet article, Government to bring forward the transition of those on legacy ESA as part of acceleration of Move to UC process, 19/04/2024
[3] Regulation 44, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[4] Regulation 44(5), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[5] Regulation 45, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[6] Regulation 46, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[7] Regulation 60, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[8] Regulation 56(1), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[9] Regulation 51, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[10] Regulation 50, The Universal Credit Regulations 2013
[11] Regulation 52, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[12] Regulation 50(2), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[13] Schedule 2 paragraph 7, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[14] Regulation 53(11), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[15] Regulation 54, the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[16] Regulation 62, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[17] Regulation 55, The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[18] Regulation 55(5), the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014, inserted with effect from 25 July 2022 by The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Regulations 2022
[19] Regulation 56(2), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[20] Regulation 99(6), The Universal Credit Regulations 2013
[21] Regulation 56(3), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
[22] Regulation 55(3), The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
