I'm on old style esa, will I be moved to UC in the next year? Will this happen if I move house?

vicky123

Hello I have been on old style esa support group for over 10 +years  they did change me over from contributions based to both contributions and income based although it didn’t alter my payments. Is it true that they will sometime in the next year or so move us over to Universal Credit? As that will lower my payments I also get PIP and Housing Benefit. Can anyone shed any light on this. 

Secondly if I move house and claim housing benefit on the new property for change of address will this force them to change me over to Universal Credit? 

Am worried as struggling with the money I receive and the thought it would go down is worrying me. Anyone out there that can shed any light much appreciated 

calcotti

The pilot project that started last year was suspended due to COVID and has not yet restarted. The OBR still expect managed migration to take until September 2026 (by which time it will be 9 years late). 
https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2021/

A6 Universal credit (UC) managed migration: the Government has again paused the pilot phase of the UC managed migration scheme, this time until April 2022. The surge of new UC claims during the early stages of the pandemic led to a pause in managed migrations as operational capacity became stretched. It also increased the number of ‘natural migrations’ from legacy benefits, reducing anticipated managed migration volumes by 50,000. There remain around 3 million cases on the legacy benefits that will transfer to UC, with 1.6 million of those expected to go through managed migration. The full rollout is still assumed to finish in September 2026.

A26 Universal credit (UC) rollout: the pandemic means the Government has delayed the managed migration phase of the UC pilot scheme until April 2022. While this is now almost three years later than first planned, it does not further extend the September 2026 end date, which remains nine years behind schedule.

vicky123

So if I now move house and declare change of circumstances for housing benefit will I still remain on the old style esa or will I move on to universal credit for my housing claim?

calcotti

Depends if you are changing local authority.

If you move within the same local authority area you can report it as a change of circumstances on your existing HB claim.

if you move to a different local authority your existing HB claim will end. You cannot make a new HB claim in the new local authority so if you want help with rent you would need to claim UC. The act of applying for UC would end your income based ESA claim. Any contribution based ESA would continue (and be subtracted from the UC).

vicky123

Thank you for that information I will continue to stay in the same Borough
great advice