By Oscar Woods 
Thousands of people receiving income-related Employment and Support Allowance could see their payments move to a different system by March this year, according to recent announcements from the Department for Work and Pensions.
The migration to Universal Credit has become one of the most talked about changes in the benefits system. For those currently on legacy benefits like income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, and Housing Benefit, the clock is ticking toward April 2026 when these older payments will cease to exist.
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What’s Happening to Legacy Benefits
The DWP has confirmed plans to complete the transition of people receiving income-related ESA to Universal Credit by March 2026. Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, explained that ESA recipients will move to what’s called the Universal Credit Health Element.
Around 860,000 households in Great Britain were still on legacy benefits as of August 2024, according to official statistics. That number has been dropping steadily as the migration process continues.
Most people should have already received what’s called a “migration notice” by now. This letter gives you a deadline to claim Universal Credit. If you haven’t gotten one but think you should have, contact the DWP right away. Missing the April 2026 cutoff could mean a gap in your payments.
The Health Element Changes Creating Concern
Starting April 6, 2026, new claimants found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity will face a significant reduction in their Universal Credit health top-up. Instead of the current rate of around £437 per month, most new recipients will get £217 per month.
People already receiving this element before April 2026 won’t see their payment cut. However, their amount will be frozen until 2030, meaning it won’t rise with inflation during that period.
There are exceptions. Those with terminal illness or who meet something called the Severe Conditions Criteria will still get the higher rate even if they claim after April 2026.
Citizens Advice has called this a two-tiered system. By 2028, the difference between someone who qualified before April 2026 and someone who qualifies after could be thousands of pounds per year.
Transitional Protection for People Moving from Legacy Benefits
Here’s something many people don’t realize: if you’re being moved from a legacy benefit through managed migration and your Universal Credit entitlement would be lower, you get something called transitional protection. This is extra money added to your Universal Credit to make sure you don’t lose out in cash terms when you switch.
The protection isn’t permanent, though. It reduces or disappears if your Universal Credit goes up for other reasons, like getting a new element added to your claim. Changes in your household can also end it.
The DWP stated it plans to mirror the Universal Credit changes in ESA rates for anyone who hasn’t migrated by April 2026. This means changes to the support component and disability premiums in ESA will reflect what’s happening in Universal Credit.
Timeline and What to Expect
The department aims to send migration notices to all remaining legacy benefit claimants by December 2025. In 2023 and 2024, over 500,000 households getting tax credits only received their notices.
When you get your notice, you typically have at least a few months to claim Universal Credit. But with the April 2026 deadline for legacy benefits ending, some notices might have shorter deadlines.
If you claim before the deadline, you could get transitional protection. Wait until after, and you might lose money.
Housing Benefit, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, and Income Support stop two weeks after you claim Universal Credit. Tax credits stop the day before your deadline if you miss it.
Right to Try Work Without Losing Benefits
One positive change: the government introduced a Right to Try Guarantee. This means people on health and disability benefits can attempt to return to work without immediately facing reassessment.
If you try a job and it doesn’t work out within six months, you can return to your previous payment level without going through another assessment. The aim is to remove the fear many disabled people have about testing whether they can manage work.
All existing Universal Credit Health Element recipients and new customers with terminal illness or severe conditions will see their payments rise at least with inflation each year from 2026 to 2030.
Standard Allowance Increases
To partly offset the health element changes, the DWP is raising the basic Universal Credit standard allowance above inflation for four years. By 2029, a single person aged 25 or over should receive around £725 per year more than they would under normal inflation increases.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies noted this represents the highest permanent real terms increase to the main out-of-work support rate since 1980.
Common Questions About the Migration
Research from the DWP found that one area causing confusion is which benefits actually get replaced by Universal Credit. Personal Independence Payment and Carer’s Allowance are NOT being replaced. These benefits continue separately, even after you move to Universal Credit.
What is being replaced:
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Housing Benefit
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
Studies showed that participants who were unemployed or had health conditions often had lower awareness of Universal Credit compared to other groups. Many didn’t understand the specific rules or how it would affect their situation.
Steps to Take Now
If you’re on legacy benefits and haven’t received a migration notice, use the time to prepare. Gather information about your income, savings, housing costs, and any other benefits you receive.
Contact welfare advisers early. Many successful appeals and reviews happen because people got proper advice before making decisions.
Check your eligibility for Universal Credit online. Some people with more than £16,000 in capital normally wouldn’t qualify, but special rules apply during managed migration from tax credits.
For those with health conditions, consider whether you need to request a work capability assessment. The timing matters. If you want to qualify for the higher health element rate, you need to be assessed and awarded it before April 6, 2026.
What Happens If You Don’t Act
Missing your migration notice deadline has serious consequences. Your legacy benefits will stop. You’ll need to make a new Universal Credit claim, but you won’t get transitional protection. That means if Universal Credit gives you less money than your old benefits, you’ll just get less.
Research indicates that around one in seven people forced to move from legacy benefits to Universal Credit never complete the process. They can lose hundreds of pounds monthly.
The system resets in April 2026. All legacy benefits close. Anyone still receiving them at that point will need to claim Universal Credit without the protections that come with managed migration.
Looking Ahead
The government says these reforms aim to create a fairer system that encourages work while protecting those who genuinely cannot work. Critics argue the cuts to health-related payments will push disabled people into poverty.
Parliamentary committees have called for delays and more comprehensive impact assessments. Disability rights organizations point out that the changes create permanent divisions within the disabled community based on when someone got sick rather than their actual needs.
The DWP is also positioning disabled people at the center of a review of the PIP assessment process, led by Sir Stephen Timms. That review is expected to conclude by autumn 2026.
Meanwhile, the managed migration continues. If you’re on legacy benefits, the message from the DWP is clear: don’t wait. Act on your migration notice as soon as you receive it, get advice if you need it, and make sure you understand how the changes will affect your specific situation before the April deadline arrives.