The DWP is phasing out six legacy benefits, urging recipients to act quickly to avoid losing support by 2025.
London: So, here’s the scoop. If you’re getting certain benefits, you need to pay attention. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is warning folks to take action if they want to keep getting their payments in 2025. They’re phasing out some older benefits for millions of people this year.
A while back, the DWP started moving people off what they call legacy benefits and onto universal credit, which has been around since 2013. This whole process is called managed migration, and it’s been happening slowly over the years. They’ve been reaching out to people to let them know about the switch, and some will need to apply for universal credit.
Now, full-scale managed migration kicked off in April 2023, and it’s gradually spreading across different areas in Great Britain. The six legacy benefits that are on the chopping block include child and working tax credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income support, income-related employment support allowance, and housing benefit.
Tax credit is the first benefit to go in 2025. According to the DWP, it’ll be closing in April 2025. So, if you’re affected, you’ve got three months from when you get your migration notice to apply for universal credit to keep your benefits coming.
Also, they’ve sped up the managed migration for about 800,000 claimants of income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit. They were supposed to wait until 2028/29, but now they’re sending out migration notices starting September 2024, aiming to notify everyone by December 2025.
By March 2026, the DWP plans to have all legacy benefit claimants switched over to universal credit, wrapping up the rollout and shutting down all legacy benefits. So, if you’re in this boat, make sure you’re ready!
