Migrating to Universal Credit...

JM2025

Hello.

I've received a letter informing me that I have to migrate from income related ESA to Universal Credit.

I receive the following benefits:

ESA:

Your living expenses: £92.05

Extra money because you are severely disabled: £82.90

Extra money because of the Disability Income Guarantee: £21.20

Limited capability for work addition

Extra Money because you are in the support group: £48.50

Which gives you a total income related amount: £244.65

I receive this amount every 2 weeks. I also receive PIP.

When I switch to UC, do I have to inform them that I receive PIP, or is this separate? Do I have to inform PIP that I'm moving from ESA to UC? Also, when I move to UC, do I have to tell them anything? Should I tell them I'm in the support group? Based on the amounts in the letter, do I receive a contribution based element? I haven't worked for many years due to various disabilities. Do you know how much UC I might get?

I've been told that I need to migrate to UC by late July. When do you think I should go online to claim it?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

Kimi87

Informing PIP is not necessary as they are entirely separate benefits. So you don't need to tell UC either about PIP.

If you used to work it's likely your ESA is Contributions Based with an Income Related top up.

Please read through this thread to see what happens after you migrate.

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/130268/ive-already-moved-to-universal-credit-but-ive-received-a-letter-from-esa

Because you get SDP with your ESA what will happen is Transitional Protection will be added to your UC award. This ensures at the time of transfer you aren't worse off than on legacy benefits. This erodes over time as other elements go up or new elements are added. Your UC award will match the amount of your legacy benefits before any deductions.

Once you apply for UC you can access your online account known as the Journal. It doesn't hurt to write a Journal note saying you are migrating from ESA Support Group.

JM2025

Thank you.

Once I transfer over, if there is a contribution based component to my ESA, will this be paid separately?

Do you think I should migrate now or wait until I receive more payments?

Thank you again.

Kimi87

Yes as per the thread I linked to (click on the purple text View Post), you will be paid New Style ESA seperate to UC each fortnight.

It's entirely up to you when you apply. Some people prefer to get it over with, others are happier doing it last minute.

JM2025

Thank you for your help.

JM2025

I forgot to ask: Do I have to tell them to add the transitional element component, or will this be done automatically?

Thanks again.

Kimi87

This should be done automatically, if it's missing or you feel it's incorrect on the first statement you can ask them to add/look at it again.