Migration to Universal Credit
The DWP is in the process of moving legacy benefit claimants onto Universal Credit through managed migration.
If you receive Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, or Employment and Support Allowance, you may receive a ‘migration notice’ from the DWP.
If you’ve had a letter telling you to claim Universal Credit
What you have to do depends on what’s in the letter.
If the letter gives a deadline for you to claim Universal Credit, it’s a ‘migration notice’. The deadline should be at least 3 months after the date the notice was sent.
If your letter doesn’t have a deadline, you don’t have to claim Universal Credit unless you want to – even if the letter says you’ll have to claim Universal Credit in future.
If you’ve got a migration notice
You should claim Universal Credit by the deadline on the letter.
Your old benefits will stop after the deadline. If you claim Universal Credit before the deadline, the DWP might pay you extra to stop you being worse off. This is called ‘transitional protection’.
This means that if you’d get less on Universal Credit than your old benefits, you’ll get an extra amount to make up the difference. The DWP will reduce the extra amount over time – so you’ll eventually just get what you normally would on Universal Credit.
If you can’t claim by the migration deadline
If the deadline hasn’t passed yet, you can ask the DWP to extend it. You can only ask for this before the original deadline in the letter. If the DWP agree, they’ll send you a new deadline.
If the deadline has passed, you can still get transitional protection if you claim Universal Credit up to a month after the deadline. The end of the month is called the ‘final deadline’.
If you claim after the final deadline, you can still claim Universal Credit – but you can’t get the transitional protection.
If you need help moving on to Universal Credit, or you have received a letter telling you to claim Universal Credit, please call the Citizens Advice Help to Claim service on 0800 144 8 444, or visit us at one of our offices.
You can also find more information here.
Are you ill or disabled and missing out on financial support?
Attendance Allowance is for people over state pension age and is designed to help with the extra costs you face because of your care needs or disability. It’s not means-tested, so doesn’t depend on your income or savings.
This benefit can help you to live safely, comfortably and as independently as possible. Even if you feel you can manage without Attendance Allowance you have a right to claim it.
Claiming everything you’re entitled to now might help your income and savings last longer. It can also help you become eligible for other financial support.
Attendance Allowance (AA)
We know that the number of people claiming Attendance Allowance in Southwark is declining, and that lots of people are entitled to AA but don’t know enough about it to claim.
To claim AA you need to be State Pension age and have a disability or illness that makes it hard for you to look after yourself.
You could get £72.65 or £108.55 a week to spend however you like. The amount you get will depend on how much help you need. It could help you stay independent in your own home for longer.
Also, it isn’t means tested so it doesn’t matter what other money you get. It doesn’t matter how much you have in savings either – there’s no limit.
AA won’t affect your state pension and you can claim it if you’re still working and earning money. AA is a tax-free benefit. You’ll be exempt from the Benefit Cap so you won’t have money taken away from any other benefits.
Eligibility
You should apply for AA if you have a disability or illness and need help or supervision throughout the day or at times during the night (even if you don’t currently get that help):
- with your personal care – for example getting dressed, eating or drinking, getting in and out of bed, bathing or showering and going to the toilet
- to stay safe
You should also apply if you have difficulties with personal tasks, for example if they take you a long time, you experience pain or you need physical help, like a chair to lean on.
AA isn’t just for people with a physical disability or illness. You should also claim if you need help or supervision throughout the day or night and have:
- a mental health condition
- learning difficulties
- a sensory condition – for example if you’re deaf or blind
Applying
You’ll need to complete a long claim form when you apply for Attendance Allowance. It might seem daunting at first but we can help you so don’t let the form put you off applying.
If you’d prefer to do it yourself you can follow our advice on how to fill in your claim form here.
Help if you are worried about your finances
Our Worrying About Money leaflet provides an online and user friendly and online way for people facing financial crisis to be aware of the options that exist and the sources of help that are available.
Contact us for help
If you need advice, please visit us or call us.
If you want to visit us for help at:
- our Peckham office at 97 Peckham High Street, SE15 5RS, you can drop in anytime between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm 5 days per week
- our Walworth office at 6-8 Westmoreland Road, Walworth, SE17 2AY, you can drop in anytime between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm 5 days per week If you want to call us our Adviceline number is 080 8278 7849. If you need help claiming Universal Credit please call on 0800 144 8 444
For online referrals, please go to our website:
https://www.citizensadvicesouthwark.org.uk/advice/email-enquiry-form/
For webchat please visit here:
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/webchat
For more information about our services see our website https://www.citizensadvicesouthwark.org.uk/
Or see us on Twitter @SouthwarkCAB
Wishing you all the very best
All at Citizens Advice Southwark