DWP warns 'payments will stop' after 318,000 people ignore advice

DWP warns 'payments will stop' after 318,000 people ignore advice

by · Birmingham Live

As many as 300,000 people face their Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) payments and benefits being axed. Households have been warned their crucial DWP payments could be stopped for a failure to act as 318,000 lose benefits.

The DWP has announced a £1million funding boost to support the move to Universal Credit. But new stats show between July 2022 and June 2024, hundreds of thousands of claimants lost their benefits by not responding to migration notices within the crucial three-month window.

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 DWP has announced a £15million funding boost to support the accelerated Move to Universal Credit programme.

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Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Over the last five years our specially trained advisers have supported thousands of people across Britain to navigate the move from old benefits to Universal Credit. We make our service as accessible as possible, offering phone, chat and British Sign Language options, so we're there for people as they move over."

Universal Credit is replacing six legacy benefits: Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and Housing Benefit. Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms MP, said: "I want to encourage anyone receiving a migration notice over the coming months to act without delay to secure quick access to benefit entitlement."

The final migration notices are set to be sent in early December 2025, with the programme closing by March 2026. You could be taken to court or have to pay a penalty if you deliberately give wrong information or do not report a change in your circumstances.