DWP to give 1.6m Universal Credit claimants £423 boost from April

Thousands of Universal Credit claimants are to get a £423 top-up from April. The additional support is rising by 1.7 per cent in line with inflation and comes in addition to lower deductions for debts, so many will receive much more in their monthly payments to assist with living costs.

The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 1.6 million people on Universal Credit have 'limited capability for work and work-related activity' (LCWRA) because of disabilities or health problems. Those in this incapacity group, where they no are no longer required to look for work, receive an extra payment of £416 on top of their Universal Credit, which will rise to £423 from April 7, 2025. This is equivalent to around £5,000 a year.

Another 357,000 were assessed as having limited capability for work (LCW), which means they will have to prepare to return to work in the future. An extra payment of £156 - going up to £158 from April - is awarded to those put into this category before April 2017, although this additional financial support is no longer offered for new claimants. Another 298,000 are awaiting a decision on their work capability assessment.

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From next April, single claimants on Universal Credit who are under 25 would receive £316.98 standard allowance plus the £423.27 LCWRA top-up, a total of £740.25. Those who are single and aged 25 or over would get a £400.14 standard allowance plus the LCWRA payment, making a total of £823.41.

For couples in a joint claim, only one LCWRA payment can be claimed but it's possible for the other person to instead get a £201 Universal Credit carer element for looking after their sick partner. Joint claimants under 25 would then get a total of £1,122.50 and those who are 25 or over would receive a total of £1,253.05.

These new amounts have all been confirmed as coming in from next April but Labour has indicated it will announce fundamental reforms to health and disability benefits in spring 2025. This will include either replacing or reforming the work capability assessment used to decide if someone is fit to get a job.

The Chancellor said changes to this assessment will save £3 billion a year, the same amount proposed by the previous Conservative government. This could mean the removal of the current system of LCW and LCWRA payments in the future as the government shifts the focus onto supporting people into work rather than writing them off and putting them on long-term sickness payments.

Mike Brewer, of the Resolution Foundation, said: "The new Government has inherited an upcoming cut to incapacity benefits from its predecessor. Changes to the work capability assessment currently planned for April 2025 will eventually cut incomes for over 400,000 families by up to £5,000 a year."

DWP Employment Minister Alison McGovern said: "We will not go ahead with the Tory plan because that was theirs. We will need to make savings like all departments, but we will bring forward our own reforms."

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