Lost money in April 2026?

shamrockgirl
shamrockgirl Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected
edited April 13 in Universal Credit (UC)

Hello, I’ve just completed my first year of being migrated to UC from the ESA support group. I did the change in my rent & service charges going up recently & that seemed to go ok.

However, after getting a UC notification (good old DWP, doing on a Saturday, when they’re not open) this morning, when I logged in I was shocked to see there would be £20 less for the month. I realise you won’t get the updated amount yet, as payments are in arrears, but getting £20 less??

Could it be the transitional payment, as this doesn’t update? But I didn’t think that would kick in yet, as your monthly payment is in arrears?

Comments

  • Holly_Scope
    Holly_Scope Posts: 5,099 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @shamrockgirl that's very annoying, especially not being informed and it happening on a weekend! It's difficult to say for sure, but I've added a little unanswered tag to help our members who might have been through something similar to find it. Hopefully you can get a bit of an idea before Monday.

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,670 Championing

    The best thing you can do is look at your previous statement & this current one to see where the £20 has been taken from.

  • shamrockgirl
    shamrockgirl Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected

    Hello All, I’ve just looked at my U.C statement online and the lower amount (£20) is because the Transitional payment has decreased. I was under the impression that we were told by DWP, when we migrated from ESA Support group, “we would not lose out financially “.!

    If this sticks & can’t be changed, I have 2 and a half years to go, to get my state pension, July 2028, so will only have next year & half of the next one to put up with this.😢

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,670 Championing

    Transitional Protection is added if your total UC award is lower than legacy benefits at the time of transfer. This is where the "no worse off" comes in.

    Transitional Protection is designed to stop with a major change of circumstances, or reduce over time as other elements go up or new elements are added.

    Turn2Us has a great guide to TP.

    https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection/when-will-my-universal-credit-uc-transitional-protection-end

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,861 Championing
    edited April 13

    Has that £20 gone directly to your landlord for the rent increase?

  • shamrockgirl
    shamrockgirl Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected

    @OverlyAnxious Not as far as I'm aware, the statement says it's due to the transitional payment being reduced. It does seem very odd timing, as the upgrade of all benefits doesn't kick in until 6 th April, so it will be next month's payment when that is put on?

    I have sent 2 journal questions to the DWP about this and also an e-mail form to my local Citizen's Advice Bureau, though they may not respond until 5 days time. I'm not really surprised about this as I read Disability News Service and other similar publications and saw that others have been affected by this migration to UC. At least I only have two and a half years until my state pension, if I'm still alive, as I've recently been told my Smouldering Myeloma has become active, after 4 years and will need to start treatment soon. Happy days!!

  • Kimi87
    Kimi87 Online Community Member Posts: 8,670 Championing
    edited April 13

    If you look at the statements again and compare all the other elements (not just Transitional Protection) you should see where the £20 was taken from.

    Like OverlyAnxious suggested, I too wondered if your Housing Element

    a) has had the increase applied

    AND

    b) gets paid directly to your landlord

    That circumstance would explain why your overall payment has visibly reduced by £20.

    When the other elements go up next month due to the annual uprating you should see an equal amount taken off your TP, leaving your overall payment the same.

    Also for those that claim Housing Element where it doesn't get sent directly to LL, the increased HE still gets taken off TP but is less visible as the overall payment into the claimants bank account remains the same.

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