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UC migrated - overpayment or normal?

W348

I was recently migrated from ESA Support Group with SDP to UC. The UC payment amount is higher than what I was getting previously on ESA.

I’m not sure if this is correct, and don’t want to get in any trouble.

I was migrated in April and I know the payment amounts usually change around this time, but usually only by a few pounds, from what I saw in past years.

I’ll give some recent examples to compare…

ESA payments paid every 2 weeks. This amount was £481.10 throughout 2025, before things changed recently in April.
I had two final ESA payments before migrating to UC. An ESA payment dated 17th April was for £489.30, so an increase over past payments. Not sure why. April standard increases, I guess?

And the final ESA payment which I found rather confusing, dated 24th April - this amount was £34.95.

UC Payments… is this amount below correct?

It felt like a long wait for this first UC payment as my last proper ESA payment was 17th April.

My first UC payment was 15th May, it should have been £1,060 monthly according to my UC statement that I saw earlier. I asked in my journal to have this changed to every 2 weeks like my ESA was previously. I received £530 on 15th May. I am due to receive £530 again on 29th May.

So what I am concerned about is the difference between UC £530, and my typical ESA £481.10 (or £489.30 if this is the last proper amount in April).

So I seem to be getting about £40-£50 more on UC than I was on ESA. Can anyone else who has migrated from ESA Support Group with SDP confirm if this looks correct.

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Comments

Kimi87

Depending where you were in your ESA payment cycle the final payment isn't always for the full amount.

You are comparing a weekly benefit (ESA) with a monthly one (UC).

There are 4.3 weeks in a month.

Your monthly equivalent ESA was £1060.15.

To convert a weekly benefit to a monthly you multiply the weekly amount by 52 then divide by 12.

W348

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I was dreading that I might need to contact them. I’ve been worried they’d demand me to goto the job centre or something anyway, before even being confused with the payment amount.

If they were overpaying me then I would inform them, but I was mostly worried this would trigger them calling me in.

So far I have managed to complete the migration - and a few journal messages initiated by myself aside - they haven’t as yet reached out directly to me. This has been a relief thus far.