DWP warns people in receipt of benefits 'act before Christmas'

The Department for Work and Pensions has warned people they have three months to act before Christmas - or risk losing benefits. People in receipt of DWP benefits have been warned they may need to "take action before Christmas".

The DWP has issued a warning to any people who receive a letter about their migration to Universal Credit in September. Some benefit recipients might find their payments disrupted around Christmas as a result of the change.

The DWP says: "Move to Universal Credit if you get a migration notice letter. As one or more of your benefits will be ending soon, you need to move to Universal Credit (UC). To continue receiving financial support you must claim Universal Credit by the deadline date given in your letter. This is three months from the date the letter was sent out."

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Legacy benefits encompass Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and income-related Employment Support Allowance. Those on the latter benefit, especially if they are also claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP), may need to give extra consideration to their transition to UC.

The switch to UC won't occur automatically for any legacy benefit recipients; they'll have to apply for the new benefit themselves. Their migration notices, which are being dispatched throughout September, will provide instructions on how to do this and specify their deadline.

Benefit claimants are being warned they have a three-month window from the date their letter was issued to switch to Universal Credit (UC), with those receiving correspondence this month potentially facing payment disruptions in December as legacy benefits come to an end.

Some people will be better off claiming universal credit, some will get about the same and others will get less on universal credit than they get from their legacy benefits. Transitional protection is only available if you claim universal credit after receiving a managed migration notice and only if you make your universal credit claim within certain time limits, or, if you have received a tax credits closure notice and claim state pension credit within a month of the deadline day (or you are already receiving state pension credit when your receive your tax credit closure notice) .