New government figures show 318,834 (up from 284,660 reported in August) benefits claimants have lost out during the managed migration process.

318,834 households on benefits have payments stopped by DWP

by · Birmingham Live

Over a quarter of a million households on benefits have had their payments STOPPED from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ). New government figures show 318,834 (up from 284,660 reported in August) benefits claimants have lost out during the managed migration process.

DWP data shows claimants have lost out by not moving to Universal Credit within an important three-month window, having been sent a managed migration notice from the benefits department. Between July 2022 and September 30, 2024, the DWP sent almost 1.4 million migration notices.

318,834 individuals lost their benefits after failing to act on migration notices received between July 2022 and June 2024. 883,944 individuals have since made successful claims for Universal Credit, and another 166,594 are still in the process of transitioning.

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Ayla Ozmen, director of policy and campaigns at Z2K, said: "We're concerned to see that more people have had vital benefit payments stopped as part of the government's plan to move people on to Universal Credit. The government now looks to have moved all disabled people on to Universal Credit by March 2026, and we are worried that more people may miss the deadline and have their benefits stopped, with potentially disastrous results.

"The government needs to ensure that appropriate safeguards are put in place to stop disabled people being left with nothing to live on." Universal Credit is replacing six benefits under the old welfare system, commonly called legacy benefits. They are:

  • Working tax credit
  • Child tax credit
  • Income-based jobseeker's allowance
  • Income support
  • income-related employment and support allowance
  • Housing benefit

If you're on any of these benefits now, you can choose to move over - but you might not be better off. You should consider carefully what moving over means for your money, as you can't move back once you're on Universal Credit, the DWP has previously said.