Moving to Universal Credit from other benefits

  1. Overview
  2. Who can claim Universal Credit
  3. Better or worse off?
  4. Changes in your circumstances (natural migration)
  1. Choosing to change to Universal Credit (natural migration)
  2. Managed migration
  3. Transitional protection
  4. What else you need to know

1. Overview

Universal Credit replaces the following 6 benefits (called 'legacy benefits'):​

  • Income Support​
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
  • Housing Benefit​
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Working Tax Credit

If you are already receiving a legacy benefit, you will need to change over to Universal Credit at some point. This is called migration.

Depending on your situation, this may happen because you have certain changes in your circumstances or you may choose to claim Universal Credit. This is called natural migration.

The DWP may instruct you to move from your legacy benefits onto Universal Credit. This is called managed migration.

For both types of migration, when you make a new claim for Universal Credit, your entitlement to legacy benefits will end.

Once you have made a claim for Universal Credit, you cannot go back to your legacy benefits, so it is important to get advice before you make a claim, particularly if you are thinking of claiming Universal Credit voluntarily.

Universal Credit works differently from the old benefits - so it's important to know the differences too.

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Benefits and financial help